NASA blasts Orion Service Module with giant horns

Engineers and technicians moved the Orion service module test article into the Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility at NASA Glenn Research Center's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio on Friday, April 8. Acoustic testing is scheduled to begin April 18.

The blue structure sitting on top of the test article is a mass simulator that represents the Orion crew module.

The test article will be blasted with at least 152 decibels and 20-10,000 hertz of sound pressure and vibration to simulate the intense sounds the Orion service module will be subjected to during launch and ascent into space atop the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

This is part of a series of tests to verify the structural integrity of Orion's service module for Exploration Mission-1, the spacecraft's first flight atop SLS.

Provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and built by Airbus Defence and Space, the service module will power, propel and cool the vehicle and also supply it with air and water.