Space Product Development Weekly Highlights – December 11, 2002

CCACS Relocates to a New Facility

The Center for Commercial Applications of Combustion in Space (CCACS) has moved its headquarters to the new General Research Building (GRB) on the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) Campus. GRB was built entirely with CSM funds and was designed to house large centers such as CCACS. This new facility has allowed CCACS to triple their headquarters space.

CCACS central offices, payload development, flight operations and the Payload Operations Center, which now has Internet-2 connectivity to MSFC, are located in the new building. All CCACS research related to flight hardware development will be conducted in the new laboratory facilities and the ground-based research will be conducted in laboratories located in five different departments around campus.

SDC Working on a New Generation of Alloys

Dr. Tony Overfelt, director of the Solidification Design Center (SDC), at Auburn University has been awarded new industry-funded projects with Ford Motor Company and the American Foundry Society, which will also include a consortium of other companies. These partnerships will allow SDC to develop critical thermophysical and mechanical properties of a new generation of magnesium casting alloys.

Lightweight materials for automotive and aerospace structural applications are a major focus area for the development of new casting alloys and processes. Magnesium alloys are lighter than aluminum alloys and promise significant improvements in the fuel economy of cars and trucks, as well as, aerospace vehicles.