{"id":37912,"date":"2019-09-05T18:55:55","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T10:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/bally-ribbon-mills-bringing-decades-of-experience-to-new-nasa-partnership\/"},"modified":"2019-09-05T18:55:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-05T10:55:55","slug":"bally-ribbon-mills-bringing-decades-of-experience-to-new-nasa-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/bally-ribbon-mills-bringing-decades-of-experience-to-new-nasa-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"Bally Ribbon Mills Bringing Decades of Experience to New NASA Partnership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Private contractors are a crucial part of America\u2019s space program. NASA has been partnering with industry since the beginning of the agency, and today, these partnerships range from launch services to research and development.<\/p>\n<p>A recent set of research and development partnerships announced by NASA included many familiar names. But there were also several small businesses that you may not immediately associate with the space program. NASASpaceflight had the opportunity to visit one such partner that has been supporting NASA\u2019s mission for decades.<\/p>\n<p>Bally Ribbon Mills in Bally, Pennsylvania was founded in 1923. Their specialty is manufacturing engineered fabrics and webbing for a wide variety of applications, not least of which is America\u2019s aerospace industry.<\/p>\n<p>Dick Bohannon is Product Development Manager at Bally Ribbon and gave NASASpaceFlight.com a tour of their facility that continues to support current and future spaceflight programs.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Commercial Space Forum Section<\/li>\n<li>L2 Future Vehicles Section<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The newest partnership is one of several Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) projects announced by NASA to prepare for Moon and Mars missions.<\/p>\n<p>Bally Ribbon will be developing a new seamless weave, a weaving pattern for carbon fiber products, to be used on a mechanically deployable carbon fabric heat shield.<\/p>\n<p>The partnership with NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley will allow the heat shield to be tested at the Arc Jet Complex. This facility mimics high-altitude atmospheric conditions, hypersonic speeds, and reentry heating to test various thermal protection systems.<\/p>\n<p>Useful insulation materials don\u2019t often have great strength properties. Bohannon explained that woven carbon fiber structures, as opposed to unidirectional ones, offer additional strength than other heat shield materials. The increased strength can also eliminate the need for extra supports or joints, which can reduce the weight of the structure, crucial in aerospace applications.<\/p>\n<p>The new carbon fabric weave will be used in a similar way to the Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT) deployable heat shield, which used a \u201cspider\u201d weave also developed by Bally Ribbon. ADEPT launched on UP Aerospace\u2019s suborbital SpaceLoft-12 mission last year, demonstrating the deployable carbon fabric heat shield during reentry, descent, and landing.<\/p>\n<p>NASA mission updates<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Technology<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Aerospace &amp; Defense<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Foldable Heat Shield Could Help NASA Deliver Much Bigger Cargo to Deep Space\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yKnsdiRf50A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>NASA envisions these deployable heat shields enabling the delivery of larger payloads on interplanetary trajectories, such as Mars entry or sample return missions to Earth. By folding compactly for launch, the heat shields can fit more easily in today\u2019s launch vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Even ADEPT was not Bally Ribbon\u2019s first heat shield. In 2017, Bally Ribbon partnered with NASA Ames to develop Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET). The mass-efficient properties of carbon fiber over traditional heat shield materials enabled 30 to 40 percent mass savings.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63071\" class=\"wp-image-63071 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2419\" height=\"960\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2.jpg 2419w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2-350x139.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2-630x250.jpg 630w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2-768x305.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2-1920x762.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/heatshield-2-1170x464.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2419px) 100vw, 2419px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-63071\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">HEEET model being tested at NASA Ames\u2019s Arc Jet Complex \u2013 via NASA<\/p>\n<p>The HEEET technology also enabled mission designs with reduced entry loads, which previously limited the instrumentation hardware that a spacecraft could carry. Bally Ribbon\u2019s work on HEEET earned a Space Technology Award from NASA\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to heat shields, Bally Ribbon has used its Thermal Protection System (TPS) experience to design insulation for the Orion spacecraft. The multi-functional TPS padding is designed to protect NASA astronauts on long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. According to Bohannon, this TPS will be used for the first time on the upcoming Artemis missions.<\/p>\n<p>Bally Ribbon also fabricates structural components for vehicles using carbon fiber. Bohannon says they\u2019ve developed a separation ring which sits between the core and upper stages of the Space Launch System. He also was able to show NSF another ring that was developed for the European Space Agency, for potential use in Arianespace\u2019s Ariane rocket family.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63075\" class=\"wp-image-63075 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing.jpg 2000w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-525x350.jpg 525w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-1170x780.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-585x390.jpg 585w, https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shuttle-Landing-263x175.jpg 263w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\"><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-63075\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Space Shuttle Discovery deploys her drag parachute at the conclusion of STS-124 \u2013 via L2<\/p>\n<p>However, as their name implies, Bally Ribbon Mills work with more than carbon fiber. Parachutes for almost every American space program used webbing produced by Bally Ribbon, including the ribbon parachutes from the Space Shuttle program.<\/p>\n<p>Bohannon remembered the more than one hundred drop tests the space shuttle parachutes had to pass but says modern programs have reduced that number slightly. The material for every extraction, drogue, and main chute for both the orbiter and the solid rocket boosters was produced by Bally Ribbon Mills.<\/p>\n<p>Parachute materials developed by Bally Ribbon also continue to support NASA\u2019s Orion program, as well as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory\u2019s Mars missions.<\/p>\n<p>Commercial spaceflight companies have also taken advantage of Bally Ribbon\u2019s expertise. Blue Origin\u2019s New Shepard capsule utilized parachutes constructed with Bally Ribbon material. SpaceX continues to use Bally Ribbon\u2019s parachute webbing for their Dragon spacecraft, and even for their original Falcon 9 parachute recovery tests.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Crew Dragon | Parachute Tests\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/B9eYCGOlr5Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid1\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Bohannon added that some of their most recent work included redesigning a weave for NASA\u2019s Commercial Crew program, which will see both SpaceX\u2019s Crew Dragon and Boeing\u2019s Starliner capsules parachuting back to Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Building on decades of experience supporting America\u2019s space program, Bally Ribbon Mills is one of many NASA partners. Small businesses and aerospace corporations continue to be integral for mission success, for both government and commercial spaceflight programs.<\/p>\n<p>But in the words of former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, \u201cthe path to Mars goes through Bally, Pennsylvania.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Private contractors are a crucial part of America\u2019s space program. NASA has been partnering with industry since the beginning of the agency, and today, these partnerships range from launch services to research and development. A recent set of research and development partnerships announced by NASA included many familiar names. But there were also several small [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8945,8946,8947,7935],"class_list":["post-37912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bally-ribbon","tag-edl","tag-parachutes","tag-tps"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}