Ribbon-cutting ceremony marks debut of new Tunnel 9 test control room

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
Arnold Air Force Base, Tenn. --  The staff and leadership of the U.S. Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development's (AEDC) Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 at White Oak near Silver Spring, Md., opened the facility's doors to members of the community and customers to celebrate the completion of a new test control room Sept. 18. 

The newly renovated, state-of-the-art room will house the control and communication for what is the world's highest pressure hypersonic wind tunnel. 

AEDC staff took more than 100 guests attending the dedication ceremony on a tour of the wind tunnel facility. The guests also gathered for an informal reception to share experiences from Tunnel 9, recollect past successes and network across the hypersonics community. 

Dan Marren, Tunnel 9 director, said a wide variety of program representatives typical of Tunnel 9's customer base were among those attending the celebration. 

"We had folks from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and NASA who attended this event, as well as various private industry representatives and community leaders," he said. "The reentry, missile defense and global strike community gathered to witness the return of one of the capabilities that has been critical to their development and were looking forward to new testing to come." 

He said the ceremony provided context for the event, and featured several speakers.
Marren opened the ceremony with reminders of the critical role the unique hypervelocity wind tunnel has played in several programs. 

"Designed to solve challenges for a difficult strategic mission, Tunnel 9 has earned its place in a technically challenging landscape," he said. "During my 25-plus years at this one-of-a-kind facility, I've seen how changes have been driven by challenging test requirements, such as those brought about through endo-atmospheric missile defense and space access." 

Marren shared his vision for Tunnel 9's role in a new and changing paradigm for the utilization of critical test infrastructure. He stressed not only the need for a deep understanding of the customer's mission but the need for solid technical knowledge and insight. He pointed to science and technology playing a pivotal role in this vision and hailed the AEDC student activities at White Oak as a crowning achievement and first step toward this goal. 

Other speakers at the event reinforced Marren's opening remarks through their own comments about the hypervelocity ground testing facility. John Hill, head of reentry systems for the Navy's Strategic Systems Projects Office spoke of "the importance of Tunnel 9 to previous challenges and acknowledging Tunnel 9's role in the future." 

Dr. Peter Erbland, DARPA's deputy director for the Falcon program (HTV-2) said Tunnel 9 had provided the primary stabilty data used to anchor the DoD agency's upcoming flight test in December. 

"We came here [to Tunnel 9] because of the history of quality, innovation and productivity that has been a hallmark of this facility, and this staff for decades and we will come back for the same reasons," he said. 

Dr. John Schmisseur, program manager for hypersonics and turbulence with the Air Force of Scientific Research's (AFOSR) Aerospace, Chemical and Material Sciences Directorate, spoke of his relationship to AEDC White Oak and the unique combination of a singularly unique test environment and a staff "who can take ideas from science and technology and provide real and valuable feedback as to its significance and importance." 

Dr. Mark Lewis, former Chief Scientist of the Air Force and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) president elect, closed the ceremony by mentioning that in four years and endless visits to AF assets, AEDC was among his favorite tours and Tunnel 9 is perhaps the best example of a facility that "gets it." He went on to mention that he has found no other organization in the Air Force that "has a better understanding of the critical role of technology for test and evaluation than at Tunnel 9." 

Following the ceremony, tours highlighted the rich history of White Oak, the impact the facility has had on critical fielded systems and the migration of Tunnel 9's methods towards Marren's vision of a technologically savvy and relevant capability ready to solve the difficult challenges ahead in bringing today's mature high-speed technologies to the field.