Supporting Capabilities

With over 50 years of experience in meeting the exacting specifications and high tolerances of space flight materials for components, our team members are experts in material identification and characterization, material improvement, acceptance testing, and failure analysis.

White Sands Test Facility's Machining and Fabrication craftsmen specialize in the prototype and production of parts used on the International Space Station, ground support equipment, and facility and test hardware

Our calibration team supports mission critical testing for the International Space Station and other NASA space exploration efforts, and helps to safeguard the lives and equipment used in these high risk endeavors. Calibration is a critical step for all instrumentation used in our testing and ensures that the data received from calibrated instruments is converted into meaningful and accurate measurements.To minimize measurement uncertainty, our calibration processes are performed in an environmentally-controlled laboratory with regulated temperature and humidity when needed and our standards are traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards.

Our personnel have developed an extraordinary degree of expertise in composite pressure vessels, oxygen systems, and propellants and aerospace fluids and have partnered with standards organizations, other NASA facilities, government entities, and commercial industry to create world class training.White Sands Test Facility has conducted extremely comprehensive materials testing and investigations focusing on oxygen and propellant environments and systems for over 40 years. We have also led the way for an industry‐wide movement for composite pressure vessel data collection, damage detection, inspection techniques, and impact prevention. This knowledge is passed along to the aerospace and industrial community through our training.

Our nondestructive evaluation (NDE) professionals inspect, test and evaluate materials, components, and systems for discontinuities before they cause severe damage, operation inefficiencies, or in-service failures. Early detection of defects assures the high reliability, integrity, and safety of material used in aerospace.

Failure analysis determines what, why and how things went wrong when a component, system, or structure fails and  is a valuable tool in the development of new products and the improvement of existing ones.  Our multi-disciplined team has the expertise and in-house capabilities to determine the root cause of failures on a wide range of materials including paints and coatings, adhesives and sealants, composites, rubbers, plastics, elastomers, and metals. We routinely apply our expert knowledge of oxygen systems, composite pressure systems, propellants and aerospace fluids, and propulsion systems to root cause analysis and offer expert recommendations for improvements and corrective action.