JSC2011-E-209246 (For release 10 Nov. 2011) — A worker at Lockheed Martin Space Company near Waterton, Colo., secures the Orion MPCV in preparation for modal testing. Modal testing is the process by which the spacecraft is dynamically excited at low levels over a specific frequency range. Large shakers are attached at different locations around the spacecraft to excite various vehicle modes like rocking and bending. Over 600 channels of instrumentation will measure the spacecraft’s structural responses throughout the 15 days of testing. This vital data will then be used to correlate computer models which support loads, environments, and Guidance Navigation & Control analyses. This testing will build on the recently completed successful acoustic testing and continue to provide risk mitigation for the program as it moves forward to the first Orion MPCV flight test in 2014.