A Chief Engineer's View of the NASA X-43A Scramjet Flight Test

Marshall, Laurie A.; Corpening, Griffin P.; Sherrill, Robert

doi:10.2514/6.2005-3332

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…= all-moving wing BET = best estimated trajectory CFD = computational fluid dynamics C P24 = ports 2 and 4 differential pressure coefficient C P25 = ports 2 and 5 differential pressure coefficient = port 2 pressure reading, psf P 3 = port 3 pressure reading, psf P 4 = port 4 pressure reading, psf P 5 = port 5 pressure reading, psf psf = pounds per square foot scramjet = supersonic combustion ramjet TPS = thermal protection system X/L = fraction of reference length q = dynamic pressure, psf ! = angle of attack, deg !…”

Section: Amwmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 During the second flight, hereafter referred to as the "Mach 7 mission," flown on March 27, 2004, the HXRV successfully demonstrated the in-flight operation of the scramjet. 5 All of the goals for that mission were achieved, including positive acceleration of the vehicle by the scramjet. The third and final flight, T 3 hereafter referred to as the "Mach 10 mission," was flown on November 16, 2004, and all of the goals for this mission were also accomplished.…”

Section: Project Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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X-43A Flush Airdata Sensing System Flight-Test Results

Baumann

Pahle

Davis

et al. 2010

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has flight-tested a flush airdata sensing (FADS) system on the Hyper-X Research Vehicle (X-43A) at hypersonic speeds during the course of two successful flights. For this series of tests, the FADS system was calibrated to operate between Mach 3 and Mach 8, and flight test data was collected between Mach 1 and Mach 10. The FADS system acquired pressure data from surfacemounted ports and generated a real-time angle-of-attack ( ! ) estimate on board the X-43A. The collected data were primarily intended to evaluate the FADS system performance, and the estimated ! was used by the flight control algorithms on the X-43A for only a portion of the first successful flight. This paper provides an overview of the FADS system and ! = port 2 pressure reading, psf P 3 = port 3 pressure reading, psf P 4 = port 4 pressure reading, psf P 5 = port 5 pressure reading, psf psf = pounds per square foot scramjet = supersonic combustion ramjet TPS = thermal protection system X/L = fraction of reference length q = dynamic pressure, psf ! = angle of attack, deg ! = angle of sideslip, deg

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Section: Amwmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Project Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

X-43A Flush Airdata Sensing System Flight-Test Results

Baumann

Pahle

Davis

et al. 2010

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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“…Flight 1 was to be tested at Mach 7, but was terminated because of a problem with the Pegasus (Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia) air-launched booster rocket. Flight 2 was successfully tested at Mach 6.8, and flight 3 was successfully tested at Mach 9.6 [2]. In addition to the scramjet flight research, the X-43A flight project provided information that can be used to expand the hypersonic aerodynamic database.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

X-43A Flight-Test-Determined Aerodynamic Force and Moment Characteristics at Mach 7.0

Davis

White

2008

Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets

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The second flight of the Hyper-X program afforded a unique opportunity to determine the aerodynamic force and moment characteristics of an airframe-integrated scramjet-powered aircraft in hypersonic flight. These data were gathered via a repeated series of pitch, yaw, and roll doublets, frequency sweeps, and pushover-pullup maneuvers performed throughout the X-43A cowl-closed descent. Maneuvers were conducted at Mach numbers of 6.80-0.95 and at altitudes from 92,000 ft mean sea level to sea level. The dynamic pressure varied from 1300 to 400 psf with the angle of attack ranging from 0 to 14 deg. The flight-extracted aerodynamics were compared with preflight predictions based on wind-tunnel test data. The X-43A flight-derived axial force was found to be 10-15% higher than prediction. Underpredictions of similar magnitude were observed for the normal force. For Mach numbers above 4.0, the flight-derived stability and control characteristics resulted in larger-than-predicted static margins, with the largest discrepancy approximately 5 in. forward along the x-axis center of gravity at Mach 6.0. This condition would result in less static margin in pitch. The predicted lateral-directional stability and control characteristics matched well with flight data when allowance was made for the high uncertainty in angle of sideslip.

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“…Due to the large number of competing inlet design goals and vehicle specific constraints, it is important that the designer consider the performance of the entire compression system in the context of its intended application. While most hypersonic inlets, such as those of Hyper-X (Marshall et al, 2005) and X-51 (Hank et al, 2008), are designed for overall vehicle performance, the SDPTE flight inlet was designed, in conjunction with a nominal flight trajectory to yield specific conditions at the isolator entrance that matched those of the UVaSCF direct connect facility. A less efficient inlet was acceptable as long as the conditions at the entrance to the isolator matched those achievable on the ground when the inlet was matched with a proper flight vehicle trajectory.…”

Section: General Inlet Design Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The flight vehicle itself was approximately 12 feet long, weighed 2,700 lbs (Holland et al, 2001) and was boosted to operating conditions aboard an Orbital Sciences Pegasus derived booster (Marshall et al, 2005). Significant wind tunnel testing took place with the aim of characterizing engine operation, boundary layer transition, aerodynamic heating, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic aerodynamics, as well as stage separation dynamics and aerodynamics (McClinton et al, 1998).…”

Section: Chapter 1: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Test Program for a Dual-mode Scramjet

Smayda¹

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Since flow at hypersonic Mach numbers (M≥5) behaves very differently from flow at subsonic or supersonic Mach numbers, the testing of hypersonic engines involves challenges not encountered in engine testing for flight in other regimes. For hypersonic Mach numbers, thermal, chemical, radiative, and ablative effects become important.Energy and heat transfer considerations make continuous-run, full scale testing at hypersonic Mach numbers difficult or impossible. While facilities have been devised specifically to study certain aspects of hypersonic flight, no single facility has the ability to simulate all the flow conditions that a hypersonic vehicle or engine may encounter.Flight can be considered the ultimate test of a hypersonic vehicle or engine because no facility effects are present. It is often the case, however, that budgetary, thermal, structural, or other logistical limitations restrict the range of diagnostics available for flight vehicle testing. Flight programs also incur significant risk that is generally not present or is significantly reduced for ground testing programs. If an unguided rocket is used to minimize cost, the likelihood that the payload will achieve the desired test conditions decreases. If a reactive control system is utilized to increase the likelihood that the payload will achieve the desired test conditions, both complexity and cost increase significantly. As such, flight programs are nearly always augmented with significant ground testing to reduce risk and confirm engine operability limits. Often a range of wind tunnels is used in order to resolve the inherent deficiencies of any one type of ground test facility. Two common shortcomings of hypersonic test facilities are the short test time associated with shock-heated facilities and the contaminated or vitiated test gas associated with combustion-heated facilities.

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A Chief Engineer's View of the NASA X-43A Scramjet Flight Test

Cited by 37 publications

References 4 publications

X-43A Flush Airdata Sensing System Flight-Test Results

X-43A Flush Airdata Sensing System Flight-Test Results

X-43A Flight-Test-Determined Aerodynamic Force and Moment Characteristics at Mach 7.0

Test Program for a Dual-mode Scramjet

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