Vibration and acoustic environments for payload/cargo integration

Shuttle orbiter launch vibration and acoustic environments for cargo bay/payload interfaces are predicted. Data acquired during Shuttle flight tests are compared with the preflight estimates. Vibration response data for payload attachment locations are presented, along with acoustic data in the form of noise-level spectra measured at various locations in the cargo bay and space averages of the noise levels. It is shown that the payload-bay vibration and acoustic environments are generally less severe than predicted.