by NASA

“ Design limit load is the maximum load that a component is expected to experience one time during the life of the vehicle. Knowing at what load and how a structural component fails is essential to being able to design a vehicle that will be safe at all expected flight conditions. ”

“ Reusable launch vehicles are being tested by NASA as future spacecraft that can be used in the commercial market as well as for scientific research. It is hoped that RLVs of the future will be designed to lower the costs of research and manufacturing in space. ”

“ Structural health monitoring sensors were also installed on the test component to verify their use for the RLV. A health monitoring system is one that monitors and records wing-box deflections, strain, temperature, etc. An effective health monitoring system would reduce the need for physical inspections of certain critical components such as the wings or the fuel tanks, and could significantly reduce operation costs and improve launch reliability. ”