Project Blue Book desk file, Socorro (217 pages)

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NWL ....
PNEUMODYNAMICS CORP.
NATIONAL WATER LIFT DIVISION
SURVEYOR LANDING GEAR
Project Surveyor is a _scientific task with the end requirement
of successfully accomplishing a landing on the moon. ·The
lunar vehicle lands on three legs. A shock absorber is incor-
porated in each leg to dissipate some of the touchdown energy
and to store the balance. NWL is responsible for the design,
production, and testing of these shock absorbers, Model 1859.
The design parameters are very severe. Temperatures range
from+ 27 5° F to - 300° F, pressures inside the unit ~o up to
15,000 psi, and pressures outside the unit drop to 10- 4 torr.
The required damping profile is both a function of unit velocity
and unit stroke position.
The unit contains a gas charge at 1500 psi and will retain such
·a charge for 12 months. External moving parts are encapsulated
by flexible metal bellows. The unit uses a special grade of
titanium (13 Cr 11 V 3 Al) heat treated to 185, 000 psi minimum.
A very detailed and comprehensive reliability program controls
this project.
By the natu.re of its' end usage, the production of the shock
absorber will be small. However, the engineering, product
know-how, and special experience requirement are very large.
This unit typifies NWL Company's capacity for small production
runs on sophisticated hardware.Rob Mercer