ASSESSING RISKS OF FRANGIBLE JOINT DESIGNS THE NASA ENGINEERING AND SAFETY CENTER (NESC) WILL EVALUATE THE VARIOUS FRANGIBLE JOINT DESIGNS USED FOR HUMAN-RATED LAUNCH VEHICLES OR OTHER HUMAN-RATED APPLICATIONS THE PURPOSE OF PERFORMING AN EVALUATION IS TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS THAT VARIOUS DESIGN PARAMETERS AND FLIGHT ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS HAVE ON SINGLE MILD DETONATING FUSE (MDF) FRANGIBLE JOINT SEPARATION CAPABILITY, WHICH WILL PROVIDE DESIGN GUIDANCE FOR SAFE AND RELIABLE FRANGIBLE JOINTS SUPPORTING MANNED SPACEFLIGHT. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS EVALUATION ARE TO: (1) REDUCE ENGINEERING UNCERTAINTY IN THE MECHANICS OF FRANGIBLE JOINT OPERATION BY DETERMINING THE SENSITIVITIES IN THE FRANGIBLE JOINT DESIGN, (2) UNDERSTAND WHAT DRIVERS (FACTOR SENSITIVITIES) IMPACT RELIABILITY SO THAT DESIGNS CAN BE BETTER EVALUATED IN REGARD TO CREW RISK,AND (3) MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING ROBUSTNESS OF FRANGIBLE JOINT DESIGNS AS NECESSARY.