[meteorite-list] NASA Successfully Tests Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2012 12:42:56 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201207231942.q6NJguPU017003_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

July 23, 2012

David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz at nasa.gov

Kathy Barnstorff
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-9886/757-244-8511
kathy.barnstorff at nasa.gov

Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.
757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler at nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-250

NASA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS HYPERSONIC INFLATABLE HEAT SHIELD

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- A large inflatable heat shield developed by
NASA's Space Technology Program has successfully survived a trip
through Earth's atmosphere while travelling at hypersonic speeds up
to 7,600 mph.

The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was launched by
sounding rocket at 7:01 a.m. Monday from NASA's Wallops Flight
Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The purpose of the IRVE-3 test was to
show that a space capsule can use an inflatable outer shell to slow
and protect itself as it enters an atmosphere at hypersonic speed
during planetary entry and descent, or as it returns to Earth with
cargo from the International Space Station.

"It's great to see the initial results indicate we had a successful
test of the hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator," said
James Reuther, deputy director of NASA's Space Technology Program.
"This demonstration flight goes a long way toward showing the value
of these technologies to serve as atmospheric entry heat shields for
future space."

IRVE-3, a cone of uninflated high-tech rings covered by a thermal
blanket of layers of heat resistant materials, launched from a
three-stage Black Brant rocket for its suborbital flight. About 6
minutes into the flight, as planned, the 680-pound inflatable
aeroshell, or heat shield, and its payload separated from the launch
vehicle's 22-inch-diameter nose cone about 280 miles over the
Atlantic Ocean.

An inflation system pumped nitrogen into the IRVE-3 aeroshell until it
expanded to a mushroom shape almost 10 feet in diameter. Then the
aeroshell plummeted at hypersonic speeds through Earth's atmosphere.
Engineers in the Wallops control room watched as four onboard cameras
confirmed the inflatable shield held its shape despite the force and
high heat of reentry. Onboard instruments provided temperature and
pressure data. Researchers will study that information to help
develop future inflatable heat shield designs.

After its flight, IRVE-3 fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
North Carolina. From launch to splashdown, the flight lasted about 20
minutes. A high-speed U.S. Navy Stiletto boat is in the area with a
crew that will attempt to retrieve IRVE-3. The Stiletto is a maritime
demonstration craft operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center
Carderock, Combatant Craft Division, and is based at Joint
Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft Story, Va.

"A team of NASA engineers and technicians spent the last three years
preparing for the IRVE-3 flight," said Lesa Roe, director of NASA's
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. "We are pushing the
boundaries with this flight. We look forward to future test launches
of even bigger inflatable aeroshells."

This test was a follow-on to the successful IRVE-2, which showed an
inflatable heat shield could survive intact after coming through
Earth's atmosphere. IRVE-3 was the same size as IRVE-2, but had a
heavier payload and was subjected to a much higher re-entry heat,
more like what a heat shield might encounter in space.

IRVE-3 is part of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator
(HIAD) Project within the Game Changing Development Program, part of
NASA's Space Technology Program. Langley developed and manages the
IRVE-3 and HIAD programs.

For more information about IRVE-3 and the HIAD Project, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/hiad

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov
        
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Received on Mon 23 Jul 2012 03:42:56 PM PDT