Book Description
The aeroheating characteristics of the X-38 Revision 3.1 lifting-body configuration have been experimentally examined in the Langley 20-inch Mach 6 Tunnel. Global surface heat transfer distributions, surface streamline patterns, and shock shapes were measured on a 0.0362-scale model of a proposed Space Station Crew Return Vehicle at Mach 6 in air. Parametric variations include angles-of-attack of 20 deg, 30 deg, and 40 deg; Reynolds numbers based on model length of 0.9 to 3.7 million; and body-flap deflections of O deg, 20 deg, 25 deg, and 30 deg. The effects of discrete roughness elements, which included trip height, location, size, and orientation, as well as multiple-trip parametrics, were investigated. This document is intended to serve as a quick release of preliminary data to the X-38 program; analysis is limited to observations of the experimental trends in order to expedite dissemination. Berry, Scott A. and Horvath, Thomas J. and Roback, V. Eric and Williams, George B., Jr. Langley Research Center...