High Enthalpy Studies of Capsule Heating in an Expansion Tunnel Facility

Measurements were made on an Orion heat shield model to demonstrate the capability of the new LENS-XX expansion tunnel facility to make high quality measurements of heat transfer distributions at flow velocities from 3 km/s (h(sub 0) = 5 MJ/kg) to 8.4 km/s (h(sub 0) = 36 MJ/kg). Thirty-nine heat transfer gauges, including both thin-film and thermocouple instruments, as well as four pressure gauges, and high-speed Schlieren were used to assess the aerothermal environment on the capsule heat shield. Only results from laminar boundary layer runs are reported. A major finding of this test series is that the high enthalpy, low-density flows displayed surface heating behavior that is observed to be consistent with some finite-rate recombination process occurring on the surface of the model. It is too early to speculate on the nature of the mechanism, but the response of the gages on the surface seems generally repeatable and consistent for a range of conditions. This result is an important milestone in developing and proving a capability to make measurements in a ground test environment and extrapolate them to flight for conditions with extreme non-equilibrium effects. Additionally, no significant, isolated stagnation point augmentation ("bump") was observed in the tests in this facility. Cases at higher Reynolds number seemed to show the greatest amount of overall increase in heating on the windward side of the model, which may in part be due to small-scale particulate

Bright polar mesospheric clouds formed by main engine exhaust from the space shuttle's final launch

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94747/1/jgrd18009.pd

International IEEE Aerospace Conference

The International IEEE Aerospace Conference, with AIAA and PHM Society as technical cosponsors, is organized to promote interdisciplinary understanding of aerospace systems, their underlying science and technology, and their applications to government and commercial endeavors. Participants have the opportunity to present their research and engage with people and ideas across a broad spectrum of aerospace technologies.https://commons.erau.edu/our-conference-opportunities/1015/thumbnail.jp

Progress in clear-air turbulence research and forecasting

Prepared for the 1st AIAA annual meeting, Washington, D.C., June 29-July 2, 1964.Includes bibliographical references

Bounty Above, The

Informational video about how the United States profits from its space programs: communications, position location, navigation, weather monitoring, remote sensing, and war. Encourages continued cooperation between business, government, and universities