Central Engineering

Assembly Laboratory


 

Overview:

The CE Assembly, Integration, and Test Lab at Cambridge Discovery Park provides over 7000 square feet of environmentally controlled laboratory space constructed to accommodate the requirements of both large ground-based instruments and fully qualified space-flight hardware. Specifically designed to permit the assembly, test, and integration of several instruments simultaneously; this lab also provides CE with the facilities needed to meet the exceptional requirements of most aerospace programs.

The lab provides a minimum of two 30' x 90' instrument assembly areas, and an additional 30' x 60' area that is permanently utilized for x-ray detector calibration and development. The two larger areas can be further subdivided to allow for simultaneous use by multiple projects. Usable ceiling height is approximately 20 feet, with access to the lab provided by a 14' x 14' roll-up door that is adjacent to the CDP loading dock for ease of instrument and equipment transfer. The entire lab is serviced by dual overhead traveling x-y bridge cranes, each with a lift capacity of 7.5 tons.

All electrical power to the Assembly Lab, (and other CE labs), is supported by a battery powered UPS that is backed up by a gas-fired generator.


Additional laboratory features include:

  • Sealed construction to minimize particulate contamination.
  • Overhead, wall, and floor mounted electrical power sources that are earth grounded. GFI power is also available.
  • Windowless walls and doors to permit simulation of lightless conditions for testing.
  • Distributed clean shop air.

Other assembly and calibration facilities and equipment include the following:

  • A 15'x 15' Class 100 solid wall clean room with personnel entry and feed through.
  • A 20'x 20' x 12' Class 10,000 mobile clean tent.
  • Three modular units that can operate independently or be joined to create a single 16'x 40'x 9' Class 1,000 tent with an additional 4' x 8' gowning area. This facility has full environmental monitoring via a sound acquisition wave monitoring system (SAW), which includes particle counts, humidity, temperature, and volatiles. The unit also has Class 100 capabilities.
  • Three 12'x 14'x 18" air isolated optical benches that can be connected into a single 36' long table for alignment stability.
  • Multiple 4'x 8' honeycomb optical tables.
  • Two ZYGO interferometers with multiple retro-flats up to 16" diameter, and multiple reference optics (flat and curvature) for optical alignment and experimentation.
  • Two alignment telescopes.
  • Three Leica theodolites with measurement capabilities ranging from 1/2 to 2 arc seconds and auto collimation.
  • Multiple GSE optical mounts.
  • Multiple vacuum chambers with x-ray sources for calibration and test.

All measurement and test equipment is inspected, tested, and calibrated at regular intervals. Calibration is performed by external contract calibration services using standards traceable to the National Bureau of Standards.


Assembly Laboratory Point of Contact:
To return to the Facility Main Page (Click Here)
 

"Aerial" View of the Assembly and Test Laboratory at CDP


Assembly Lab

For a larger version of the image (Click here)

 
 

Section Photo