Lightning is one of the most powerful and dangerous natural phenomena on Earth. People or property caught in the path of lightning typically experience property damage, fires, injuries, and even death.
The SLS team of lightning subject matter experts can provide expert testimony and technical assistance in these cases to help insurance companies, property owners, business owners, and family…
Read MoreNASA's iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), home to the Artemis program, was directly struck by lightning during a strong storm in early April, 2023. The strike attached nearly simultaneous to an elevated platform on the roof of the VAB and to ground just southwest of the building. Long unconnected upward leaders are imaged in the frame containing the attachment from the extremities of the building.…
Read MoreSensitive aircraft and related assets are often staged on open tarmacs for maintenance or servicing. In this case, the aircraft are frequently exposed to direct lightning strikes. SLS offers customized portable lightning protection solutions with integrated lightning monitoring capabilities to mitigate lightning risk to these assets.
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An SLS high-speed camera system monitoring Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center captured this amazing direct strike to a tall weather tower in the distance. The upward connecting leader from the tower top was estimated to exceed 1500ft in length.
Read MoreAbout 50% of cloud-to-ground lightning events attach to ground in more than one location. Many times, single strokes also attach to ground in multiple locations. These "forked" strokes radiate very complex electromagnetic signatures that confuse large-scale lightning location systems, leading to unreported events. For critical assets that rely on these data for operational decisions, multiple ground…
Read MoreThe ruggedized, low-power Jupiter Transient Monitoring System (TMS) is ideally suited for portable applications. Here, two Jupiter TMS units and a Jupiter Timing Distributor are mounted in a portable EMI-shielded rack ready for shipment to various facilities around the country.
Read MoreOne of SLS' Jupiter OLS systems at the Kennedy Space Center captured this "bolt from the blue" strike to the ocean offshore of the Launch Complex 39 area. The strike terminated in two locations nearly simultaneously, followed a millisecond later by a third termination associated with an "upward illumination" (UI) type stroke.
Read MoreSLS teamed with ABL Space Systems - one of the newest commercial launch providers at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station - to guide the lightning protection design and requirements to support orbital launches of the RS1 vehicle from Space Launch Complex 46.
ABL recently conducted the inaugural launch of the RS1 vehicle from Kodiak Island, Alaska in January, 2023. Learn more about SLS'…
The 2023 LPI/ULPA conference was a great success with many exhibitors and interesting presentations. SLS thoroughly enjoyed the camaraderie and exchange of information with other industry professionals. The LPI recently published a video showing some of the conference highlights.
Read MoreSLS' Carlos Mata, Dustin Hill, Jose Acosta, and Zaida Noguera are attending SpaceCom this week in Orlando, FL. SpaceCom is a global commercial space conference and exhibition where many of the pioneering technologies for the booming commercial space industry will be on display.
SLS will be providing information on our state-of-the-art Jupiter high-speed data acquisition systems (both transient…
Read MoreThe SLS Team has many decades of lightning monitoring, lightning protection, and lightning testing experience. We apply state-of-the-art lightning research to engineering solutions.
Request InformationDo you have lightning-related questions or concerns? Leave us your contact information and a brief descriptive message and a member of our team of experts will respond promptly.