The HST program scheduled a series of operational verification tests prior to launch. Some of these major tests include thermal vacuum/thermal balance, modal and acoustic testing. This paper addresses the preliminary work done to prepare for the acoustic testing operation. Acoustic cleaning of large assemblies is usually the first in a series of steps for cleaning a large space structure. Very little work has been done in the area of contamination analysis to determine particle redistribution after a large structure undergoes acoustic excitation. This paper will cover 4 experiments that were carried out in the Large Vehicle Environmental Test Cell #1 at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California. The experiments looked at particle redistribution, fallout from the test cell, acoustic cleaning as a precleaning tool for small particles and the effects of orientation of a model structure undergoing acoustic excitation.

Date Published: 1 January 1987
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 0777, Optical Systems Contamination: Effects, Measurement, Control, (1 January 1987); doi: 10.1117/12.967083

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 0777:
Optical Systems Contamination: Effects, Measurement, Control
A. Peter M. Glassford, Editor(s)