But first, a pop quiz💡
What ocean will Orion splash down in at the end of the mission?
🚀🛰️✨
From Selling Books to Launching Spacecraft
On the week of January 12, 2026, MSI DFAT conducted a revolutionary Direct Field Acoustic Test (DFAT) of the Blue Origin “Blue Moon” Mark 1 Lunar Lander at the Blue Origin Florida test operations facility in Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA.
This test, crucial for verifying the structural integrity and performance of the lunar lander under simulated rocket launch conditions, utilized a state-of-the-art acoustic test system from MSI DFAT.
Dave Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, clearly stated the importance of acoustic testing over alternative test methods on X.com: “Because the lander’s vibration environment is driven by acoustic loads, this test replace traditional shaker-based vibration testing and more accurately represents ascent conditions.”
The primary goal of the acoustic test on the MK1 Lunar Lander was to validate its resilience to the high-decibel noise levels experienced during rocket launch.
As of 16 January, 2026, the Blue Moon MK1 lunar lander is set to launch aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, with the first mission scheduled for no earlier than 2026. The lander will carry a NASA payload called SCALPSS (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies) to the Moon's south polar region.
The lander's height of 26 feet (8 meters) makes it larger than NASA's Apollo lander. The lander's design includes a BE-7 engine, cryogenic fluid power, and propulsion systems, and it will be powered by a mix of solar panels and fuel cells. The lander's wet mass is less than 21,350 kg, and it features attitude control in all three axes.
The lander's journey to the Moon will take 5-7 days after launch, after which it will burn into lunar orbit. The acoustic qualification test included assessing potential resonant frequencies and ensuring the structural components could withstand the stress without compromising the lunar lander’s functionality.
The 34-foot-tall acoustic test setup included more than 100 subwoofers and more than 100 mid-high frequency loudspeakers, generating high-intensity noise at over 138 decibels for 120 seconds to meet the proto-qualification requirement for the vehicle!
Artemis 2 Launching on Feb 6!
MSI DFAT was honored to be invited by the Lockheed Martin Orion Program Office to attend the historic Artemis II launch at Kennedy Space Center, joining industry partners along the NASA Causeway to witness the next chapter of human spaceflight firsthand. The launch is scheduled to occur on February 6, 2026.
How to View the Artemis II Launch:
In person (Florida): The closest viewing is the NASA Causeway (by invite-only). Public options include the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (ticketed) and free locations like Playalinda Beach, Space View Park in Titusville, and Jetty Park, all offering clear views of the ascent.
From home: NASA will stream the launch live on NASA TV, its website, YouTube, and the NASA app, with coverage starting hours before liftoff and featuring live commentary and onboard views.
Helpful tips: Launch dates and times can shift, so follow NASA updates closely; arrive early for in-person viewing due to traffic; and if it’s an evening launch, expect especially dramatic visuals as the rocket lights up the sky.
Beyond attending the launch, MSI DFAT plays a direct role in the Artemis program by acoustically testing Orion and related spacecraft hardware using Direct Field Acoustic Testing (DFAT), helping ensure the vehicle can survive the extreme launch and ascent environments it will experience on its journey around the Moon.
Through this work, our team has collaborated closely with program partners and has had the rare opportunity to meet the entire Artemis II astronaut crew in person—connecting the critical ground testing we perform to the people who will ultimately fly the mission.
It’s a full-circle moment for MSI DFAT: from testing the spacecraft, to supporting mission readiness, to standing on the causeway as Orion lifts off. 🚀
The Importance of Microphone Placement in Acoustic Testing
Dr. Marcos Underwood and Wes Mayne of MSI DFAT recently presented a brand new technical publication at SciTech 2025.
The paper demonstrates, through both full-scale DFAT testing at JPL and correlated vibroacoustic simulation, that microphone placement relative to the test article is a dominant factor in achieving valid Direct Field Acoustic (DFAN/DFAT) results. Using a representative spacecraft-like test article, the study shows that microphones placed too close to the article—particularly within the near field or influenced by geometric features such as open cavities—measure localized standing waves, reflections, and resonances that are physically correct but inappropriate for use as control or field-characterization metrics.
When such microphones are improperly used to define field uniformity or diffuseness, the measured spectra and coherence deviate from the theoretical diffuse-field sinc² behavior, producing misleading indications of poor field quality. The paper makes clear that DFAN approaches which ignore these placement constraints—commonly by positioning microphones arbitrarily close to hardware or embedding them in the near field—are effectively violating the test assumptions defined in NASA-HDBK-7010, resulting in inferior data, distorted control behavior, and incorrect qualification conclusions, whereas properly decoupled microphone layouts, as implemented in MSI-DFAT systems, preserve true diffuse-field metrics and test integrity.
For a copy of the full paper, please request from info@msidfat.com
A: ✅ The Pacific Ocean. Orion, the crew module for NASA’s Artemis missions, is built for true deep-space travel beyond low Earth orbit, carrying up to four astronauts in the roomiest human spacecraft ever flown past Earth’s radiation belts and engineered to withstand intense radiation, micrometeoroids, and long-duration missions to the Moon and beyond. It relies on an international partnership, with the European Service Module providing power, propulsion, oxygen, and water, while the crew module itself is reusable for future flights.
Orion returns to Earth at blistering speeds of about 25,000 mph—faster than any human spacecraft since Apollo—using the largest heat shield ever flown by humans, which intentionally burns away as it endures plasma temperatures around 5,000°F. Instead of plunging straight in, Orion performs a “skip reentry,” bouncing off the atmosphere to reduce heat and g-forces, then deploys an 11-parachute sequence that culminates in three massive main chutes, allowing it to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at roughly 20 mph, slow enough for crew survival even if a parachute fails.
After landing, Orion can right itself if it splashes down upside-down, remains sealed while a U.S. Navy recovery team secures it, and completes one of the most critical and dramatic phases of the Artemis mission—quietly bobbing in the ocean after surviving one of the harshest environments a spacecraft can endure.
Launching things into space? 🚀🛰️✨
