Cooke - Engine/Nozzle Installation System
Stennis Space Center in Mississippi is NASA`s largest rocket engine test facility. See engine test videos here.. Installing an engine and nozzle in the test stand and preparing it for testing is a precise procedure requiring the accurate positioning to align hundreds of bolts in a circular pattern simultaneously.
To perform this alignment procedure, we developed a system that allowed the operators to lift a 6,000-lb nozzle into position and align the bolt pattern by floating the nozzle on a cushion of air between 2 large machined aluminum plates. Using a joystick, the operators could position the nozzle north/south/east/west in the horizontal plane. The air bearing worked so well that the rotational alignment was achieved by rotating the 6,000-lb nozzle by hand.