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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
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NASA NTRS2012

Free-Flight Terrestrial Rocket Lander Demonstration for NASA's Autonomous Landing and Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) System

The Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) Project is chartered to develop and mature to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of six an autonomous system combining guidance, navigation and control with terrain sensing and recognition functions for crewed, cargo, and robotic planetary landing vehicles. The ALHAT System must be capable of identifying and avoiding surface hazards to enable a safe and accurate landing to within tens of meters of designated and certified landing sites anywhere on a planetary surface under any lighting conditions. Since its inception in 2006, the ALHAT Project has executed four field test campaigns to characterize and mature sensors and algorithms that support real-time hazard detection and global/local precision navigation for planetary landings. The driving objective for Government Fiscal Year 2012 (GFY2012) is to successfully demonstrate autonomous, real-time, closed loop operation of the ALHAT system in a realistic free flight scenario on Earth using the Morpheus lander developed at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). This goal represents an aggressive target consistent with a lean engineering culture of rapid prototyping and development. This culture is characterized by prioritizing early implementation to gain practical lessons learned and then building on this knowledge with subsequent prototyping design cycles of increasing complexity culminating in the implementation of the baseline design. This paper provides an overview of the ALHAT/Morpheus flight demonstration activities in GFY2012, including accomplishments, current status, results, and lessons learned. The ALHAT/Morpheus effort is also described in the context of a technology path in support of future crewed and robotic planetary exploration missions based upon the core sensing functions of the ALHAT system: Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN), Hazard Detection and Avoidance (HDA), and Hazard Relative Navigation (HRN).

Rutishauser, David K.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Analysis of Free-Flight Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent Heat-Transfer Results at Free-Stream Mach Numbers Near 20 (Reentry F)

Laminar, transitional, and turbulent heat-transfer data were measured during a reentry flight at a Mach number of 20 on a 5 deg half-angle cone 3.962 m (13 ft) long with an initial nose tip radius of 0.254 cm (0.1 in.). The free-stream Reynolds number increased during the prime data period from 7.0 x 10(exp 6) to 51.5 x 10(exp 6) per meter (2.1 x 10(exp 6) to 15.7 x 10(exp 6) per foot) and the ratio of wall to total temperature varied from 0.053 to 0.12. The angle of attack was less than 1deg for the prime data period. The experimental laminar and turbulent heating rates are compared with results from existing flat-plate prediction methods. At conditions of minimal tip blunting and angle of attack (above 26.8 km (88 000 ft)), values from a flat-plate laminar method agreed within 20 percent with the laminar data. The Schultz-Grunow skin-friction equation with reference enthalpy; conditions, with the Reynolds number based on distance from the transition location, and with the Colburn Reynolds analogy agreed within 10 percent with the experimental turbuleiit heating data. The Van Driest n skin-friction equation with Reynolds number greater than 10(exp 7) based on distance from the peak heating point and the Colburn Reynolds analogy was also within approximately 10 percent of the experimental turbulent heating data. A data correlation jbf the extent of transition and a simple empirical transition-zone heating correlation were also presented.

Zoby, Ernest V.↗
NASA NTRS1954

Summary of Free-flight Performance of a Series of Ram-jet Engines at Mach Numbers from 0.80 to 2.20

Data obtained from the NACA air-launched ram-jet program are summarized with emphasis placed upon the transonic propulsive thrust potential of the engines. Data are presented for boosted and non-boosted engine configurations which incorporate a single-oblique-shock or double-oblique-shock diffuser designed for critical inlet operation at flight Mach numbers of 1.8 and 2.4, respectively. The engines are evaluated in terms of flight Mach number, mass-flow ratio, diffuser pressure recovery, combustion-chamber heat release, propulsive thrust, external drag, and specific impulse. From specific impulse considerations, it appears that for some air-launched missile applications the self-accelerating supersonic ram jet may have a lower gross weight than a rocket-boosted ram jet.

RESEARCH EQUIPMENT, FREE-FLIGHT↗
NASA NTRS1985

Continuous prediction of Spartan visibility from Orbiter over modeled free-flight mission

Orbital operations in the neighborhood of other satellites or free-flying objects need the ability to see and detect such objects optically. This ability depends primarily on the brightness of the object relative to other sources present. The present analysis and computational procedure provides a means for predicting the visual brightness of a satellite when viewed from a nearby satellite in the same orbit. It is designed specifically for estimating the brightness of Spartan free-flyers from the STS Orbiters which release and later retrieve them, but the basic methods are applicable to other satellite-to-satellite visibility prediction problems. The Spartan reflector model defined herein is illuminated both by direct solar radiation and by the earth (albedo), producing a model source of defined directional intensity. The intensity in the Orbiter direction (along orbit) yields the desired maximum range directly. The required geometric and photometric calculations involve a number of angles in space, which are readily computed from the basic directions defining their sides. The time-dependent directions are determined by straightforward calculation from fundamental relationships and constants.

King, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1950

Free-flight Performance of 16-inch-diameter Supersonic Ram-jet Units III : Four Units Designed for Combustion-chamber-inlet Mach Number of 0.245 at Free-stream Mach Number of 1.8 (units D-1, D-2, D-3, and D-4)

Performance of four 16-inch-diameter ram-jet units was determined at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.49 to 1.78 over range of gas total-temperature ratios of 1.0 to 6.1. Time histories of each flight and data on thrust, drag, diffuser efficiency, and combustion are presented. A maximum thrust coefficient of 0.88 and a maximum net acceleration of 5.13 g's were observed for the four units.

COMBUSTION - RAM-JET ENGINES↗
NASA NTRS1953

Free-flight Performance of a Rocket-boosted, Air-launched 16-inch-diameter Ram-jet Engine at Mach Numbers up to 2.20

The investigation of air-launched ram-jet engines has been extended to include a study of models with a nominal design free-stream Mach number of 2.40. These models require auxiliary thrust in order to attain a flight speed at which the ram jet becomes self-accelerating. A rocket-boosting technique for providing this auxiliary thrust is described and time histories of two rocket-boosted ram-jet flights are presented. In one flight, the model attained a maximum Mach number of 2.20 before a fuel system failure resulted in the destruction of the engine. Performance data for this model are presented in terms of thrust and drag coefficients, diffuser pressure recovery, mass-flow ratio, combustion efficiency, specific fuel consumption, and over-all engine efficiency.

AIR INLETS - NOSE, ANNULAR↗
NASA NTRS1958

Heat-Transfer Measurements in Free Flight at Mach Numbers up to 14.6 on a Flat-Faced Conical Nose with a Total Angle of 29 Degrees

Skin-temperature measurements have been made at several locations on a flat-faced cone-cylinder nose which was flight tested on a fivestage rocket-propeller model to a Mach number of 14.64 and a free-stream Reynolds number of 2.0 x 10(exp 6), based on flat-face diameter, at an altitude of 66,300 feet. The copper nose had a 29 deg total-angle conical section which was 1.6 flat-face diameters long. The aerodynamic-heating rates determined from the temperature measurements reached 1,440 Btu/( sec) (sq ft) on the flat face. The heating rates near the center of the flat face agreed well at Mach numbers up to 13.6 with those obtained by a theory for laminar stagnation-point heating in equilibrium dissociated air (Avco Res. Rep. 1). At Mach numbers above 13.6, the heating rates at locations near the center of the flat face became progressively lower than stagnation-point theory and. were 29 percent lower at Mach number 14.6 at the end. of the test. The reason for this behavior of the heating on the central part of the flat face was not determined. Excluding the relatively low heating rates that occurred on the central part of the nose at the highest Mach numbers, the distribution of experimental heating along the innermost 0.79 of the flat-face radius, expressed as a percentage of stagnation-point heating, was in fair agreement with the distribution predicted by laminar theory. At a location of 0.71 radii from the stagnation point, the experimental heating was very near 130 percent of the theoretical stagnation-point rate at Mach numbers from 11 to 14.5. The experimental beating rates on the conical section of the nose were in good agreement with laminar-cone theory using the assumption of theoretical sharp-cone static pressure on the conical section.

Rumsey, Charles B↗
NASA NTRS1954

Effect of Rocket-Motor Operation on the Drag of Three 1/5-Scale Hermes A-3A Models in Free Flight

Three 1/5-scale models of the Hermes A-3A missile have been flown to determine the effect of rocket-motor operation on the drag corresponding to various altitude and Mach number combinations. The flights covered a Mach number range from 0.5 to 1.8, and ratios of jet-exit static pressure to free-stream static pressure from 0.8 to 1.8. The results indicate that the power-on drag of the missile should be the same as the power-off drag at Mach number 1.3 and slightly less than the power-off drag at Mach number 1.55.

Jackson, H. Herbert↗
NASA NTRS1961

Heat Transfer and Boundary-Layer Transition on a Highly Polished Hemisphere-Cone in Free Flight at Mach Numbers Up to 3.14 and Reynolds Numbers Up to 24 x 10(exp 6)

A highly polished hemisphere-cone having a ratio of nose radius to base radius of 0.74 and a half-angle of 14.5 was flight tested at Mach numbers up to 4.70. Temperature and pressure data were obtained at Mach numbers up to 3.14 and a free-stream Reynolds number of 24 x 10(exp 6) based on body diameter. The nose of the model had a surface roughness of 2 to 5 microinches as measured with an interferometer. The measured Stanton numbers were in good agreement with theory. Transition Reynolds numbers based on the laminar boundary-layer momentum thickness at transition ranged from 2,190 to 794. Comparison with results from previous tests of blunt shapes having a surface roughness of 20 to 40 microinches showed that the high degree of polish was instrumental in delaying the transition from laminar to turbulent flow.

Buglia, James J.↗
NASA NTRS1961

Free-Flight Aerodynamic-Heating Data to Mach Number 10.4 for a Modified Von Karman Nose Shape

Aerodynamic-heating data have been obtained on a modified fineness-ratio-5.0 Von Karman nose shape at free-stream Mach numbers up to 10.4 with a rocket-propelled model. Transient skin temperatures were measured at one station, 26.6 inches behind the tip of a nose 31.6 inches long. A maximum skin temperature of 1,663 deg R was measured soon after the maximum Mach number was obtained. During the periods for which experimental Stanton numbers were presented, flow parameters just outside the boundary layer at the temperature measuring station varied as follows: the local Mach number varied in the range between 0.8 and 9.0 and the local Reynolds number varied in the range between 0.8 x 10(exp 6) and 35.5 x 10(exp 6). The ratio of skin temperature to local static temperature varied between 1.0 and 3.6. The experimental Stanton numbers agreed well with Van Driest's turbulent theory while the local Reynolds number was high - that is, while the local Reynolds number varied in a range above 6.8 x 10(exp 6). For local Reynolds numbers less than 3.5 x 10(exp 6) the experimental Stanton numbers were of the magnitude predicted by Van Driest's laminar theory. Transition from turbulent to laminar flow at the temperature measuring station, as indicated by the change in the magnitude of the Stanton number, occurred as the local Reynolds number decreased from 6.8 x 10(exp 6) to 3.5 x 10(exp 6) at essentially a constant local Mach number of about 9.0.

Bland, William M., Jr.↗