Supporting flight data analysis for Space Shuttle Orbiter Experiments at NASA Ames Research Center

Green, M. J.; Budnick, M. P.; Yang, Lily; Chiasson, M. P.

doi:10.2514/6.1983-1532

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Quantitatively, if surface temperatures associated with a hypersonic laminar and/or fully turbulent boundary layer flow can be inferred from calibrated in flight imagery, they could be used to verify engineering models or numerical predictive methods and associated turbulence models. While most aerospace applications of infrared thermography have been limited to wind tunnel testing, this measurement technique has been utilized during several Shuttle entries over the past 25 years to obtain flight data [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . The renewed interest in thermal imagery during Shuttle entry was initially motivated by the desire to reduce uncertainties associated with an empirical strategy to predict BLT onset.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Hythirm Project: Flight Thermography of the Space Shuttle During Hypersonic Re-Entry

Horvath

Tomek

Berger

et al. 2010

48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Hythirm Project: Flight Thermography of the Space Shuttle During Hypersonic Re-Entry

Horvath

Tomek

Berger

et al. 2010

48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

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“…Sensors V07T9480A and V07T9666A, not shown in the figure, also exhibited odd behavior during the same time period. Previous researchers 23,24 have suggested that this may be the result of angle of attack, α, variations. STS-28R did experience an α variation during the time period indicated.…”

Section: A Sts-28rmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review of Orbiter Flight Boundary Layer Transition Data

McGinley

Berry

Kinder

et al. 2006

9th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference

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In support of the Shuttle Return to Flight program, a tool was developed to predict when boundary layer transition would occur on the lower surface of the orbiter during reentry due to the presence of protuberances and cavities in the thermal protection system. This predictive tool was developed based on extensive wind tunnel tests conducted after the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Recognizing that wind tunnels cannot simulate the exact conditions an orbiter encounters as it re-enters the atmosphere, a preliminary attempt was made to use the documented flight related damage and the orbiter transition times, as deduced from flight instrumentation, to calibrate the predictive tool. After flight STS-114, the Boundary Layer Transition Team decided that a more in-depth analysis of the historical flight data was needed to better determine the root causes of the occasional early transition times of some of the past shuttle flights. In this paper we discuss our methodology for the analysis, the various sources of shuttle damage information, the analysis of the flight thermocouple data, and how the results compare to the Boundary Layer Transition prediction tool designed for Return to Flight. Nomenclature

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“…Previous attempts at imaging the Shuttle windward surface using IR had been attempted, initially using aircraft (STS-3) 8 and then ground-based systems (STS-96 9 and STS-103 10 ). The current attempt was to take advantage of existing airborne assets to fly above the weather (mainly humidity) and minimize the slant range between the imaging system and the Orbiter.…”

Section: Entry Irmentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary Layer Transition Results from STS-114

Berry

Horvath

Cassady

et al. 2006

9th AIAA/ASME Joint Thermophysics and Heat Transfer Conference

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The tool for predicting the onset of boundary layer transition from damage to and/or repair of the thermal protection system developed in support of Shuttle Return to Flight is compared to the STS-114 flight results. The Boundary Layer Transition (BLT) Tool is part of a suite of tools that analyze the aerothermodynamic environment of the local thermal protection system to allow informed disposition of damage for making recommendations to fly as is or to repair. Using mission specific trajectory information and details of each damage site or repair, the expected time of transition onset is predicted to help determine the proper aerothermodynamic environment to use in the subsequent thermal and stress analysis of the local structure. The boundary layer transition criteria utilized for the tool was developed from ground-based measurements to account for the effect of both protuberances and cavities and has been calibrated against flight data. Computed local boundary layer edge conditions provided the means to correlate the experimental results and then to extrapolate to flight. During STS-114, the BLT Tool was utilized and was part of the decision making process to perform an extravehicular activity to remove the large gap fillers. The role of the BLT Tool during this mission, along with the supporting information that was acquired for the on-orbit analysis, is reviewed. Once the large gap fillers were removed, all remaining damage sites were cleared for reentry as is. Post-flight analysis of the transition onset time revealed excellent agreement with BLT Tool predictions.

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Supporting flight data analysis for Space Shuttle Orbiter Experiments at NASA Ames Research Center

Cited by 12 publications

References 5 publications

The Hythirm Project: Flight Thermography of the Space Shuttle During Hypersonic Re-Entry

The Hythirm Project: Flight Thermography of the Space Shuttle During Hypersonic Re-Entry

Review of Orbiter Flight Boundary Layer Transition Data

Boundary Layer Transition Results from STS-114

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