NASA Standard Initiator

The NASA Standard Initiator (NSI) is a pyrotechnic device used to set off other pyrotechnic devices. It is the central multi-purpose component of a modular system of detonating cords, pyrotechnics and various other explosive charges with many different uses.^[1]

The ignition charge of the device is a blend of zirconium, potassium perchlorate, Viton B and graphite, often abbreviated as ZPP.^[2]

Uses of the device include:

Setting off pressure cartridges, pocket sized gas generators which in turn pneumatically activate other systems.
Setting off the NASA standard detonator, which itself activates other systems explosively.
Triggering Pyrotechnic Circuit Interrupters, severing bundles of electrical cables.
Triggering explosive valves to open/close pressurization lines or fuel lines.
Triggering a pyrotechnic pin puller which opens a Marman clamp, separating two spacecraft.
Acting as an igniter.

^ Proceedings of Electric Initiator Symposium - 1963. Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: U.S. Army Materiel Command. 1 October 1963. pp. 3-1–3-22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2018.
^ Seeholzer, Thomas L.; Smith, Floyd Z.; Eastwood, Charles W.; Steffes, Paul R. (1 January 1995). Applications catalog of pyrotechnically actuated devices/systems (PDF). Cleveland, OH: NASA Lewis Research Center. pp. 66–67. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2022.