Thin Red Line Capabilities
Thin Red Line Aerospace capabilities focus on development of the highest performance flexible-deployable architecture, including systems engineering and integration of complex fabric and polymeric film structures. Thin Red Line’s work at the leading edge of fabric and film structure engineering is founded on mastery of both fabrication and of the associated scientific concepts. The most recent technologies are exploited to generate a synthesis of construction parameters which lead to solutions that reconcile engineering and mission enabling architectural innovation.
Thin Red Line’s dedication to development of space exploration technology is led by staff with invaluable insights into space environments and spacecraft systems engineering, with experience spanning the decades following the Apollo program, and having supported NASA programs such as Chandra X-ray, EOS-Terra, Compton Gamma Ray Observatories, as well as the TOMS satellite. While primarily dedicated to space related technologies, Thin Red Line staff also have extensive “terrestrial” experience—in design, testing, and the hands-on field integration of critical application aviation, tactical and ground support soft goods for deployment in inclement environments around the world.
Thin Red Line’s unique fabrication capabilities were developed from the ground up to enable construction of extremely complex, high-mass flexible structures. In our almost 600 square meter (6000 square foot) high-bay facility, precision reproducible work features digitally controlled material feed for the largest fabric and film structures with material handling capability supporting multi-ton systems integration. Thin Red Line’s fully-automated calibration equipment measures fiber component elongation properties to almost thirty meters in length and loads up to 20,000 kilograms, and is capable of applying non-contact calibration marking with 0.01 millimeter resolution. Thin Red Line performs in-house design and analysis of custom fixtures for specialized contextual testing of soft material configurations.