NASA successfully tests hypersonic inflatable heat shield

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NASA successfully tests hypersonic inflatable heat shield
July 23, 2012
The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was launched by sounding rocket at 7:01 a.m. Monday, July 23, 2012 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.
NASA Wallops 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.

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Air Force hypersonic aircraft goes 3,000+ mph...
:clap2:
Experimental Air Force aircraft goes hypersonic
May 3,`13 -- An experimental, unmanned aircraft developed for the U.S. Air Force went hypersonic during a test off the Southern California coast, traveling at more than 3,000 mph, the Air Force said Friday.
The X-51A WaveRider flew for more than three minutes under power from its exotic scramjet engine and hit a speed of Mach 5.1, or more than five times the speed of sound. The test on Wednesday marked the fourth and final flight of an X-51A by the Air Force, which has spent $300 million studying scramjet technology that it hopes can be used to deliver strikes around the globe within minutes. The previous three flights ended in failure or didn't reach the intended speed.

Though the WaveRider was designed to reach Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound, program officials were satisfied with its performance in the latest test. "It was a full mission success," program manager Charlie Brink of the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base said in a statement. The sleek, missile-shaped WaveRider was released from a B-52 bomber 50,000 feet above the Pacific and was initially accelerated by a rocket before the scramjet kicked in.

It reached Mach 4.8 in less than half a minute powered by a solid rocket booster. After separating from the booster, the scramjet engine was ignited, accelerating the aircraft to Mach 5.1 at 60,000 feet. The flight ended with a planned plunge into the ocean. The WaveRider traveled more than 230 miles in six minutes, making it the longest hypersonic flight of its kind. Engineers gathered data before it splashed down.

Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works, which built the WaveRider, called the test "a historic achievement that has been years in the making." "This test proves the technology has matured to the point that it opens the door to practical applications," Davis said in a statement. While the Air Force did not have immediate plans for a successor to the X-51A, it said it will continue hypersonic flight research.

Source
 
Buildings damaged after hypersonic weapon abort...

Explosion of experimental Army rocket damaged buildings at launch site
August 26, 2014 ~ The target of the experimental Advanced Hypersonic Weapon was Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands, but Army flight controllers blew up the rocket for safety reasons after detecting an anomaly, the DOD said.
A rocket carrying an experimental Army strike weapon that exploded during launch has damaged buildings at the Kodiak Launch Complex, but state officials will wait until after a cleanup to assess what it will cost to make repairs. Several buildings sustained bent or broken sheet-metal siding, roofs, doors or windows on Monday, Craig Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Alaska Aerospace Corp., told the Alaska Dispatch News.

"It affected the launch tower, the payload processing facility, and the integrated processing facility," Campbell said. "These are all significant buildings — they're what we use to launch a rocket." However, another corporation official downplayed the damage, according to the Kodiak Daily Mirror. "There isn't a whole lot of damage to anything," chief operating officer Mark Greby told the newspaper from the site. "I've seen worse-looking after a hurricane."

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This Monday, Aug. 25, 2014, photo provided by Scott Wight shows the horizon from Cape Greville in Chiniak, Alaska, after the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, a rocket carrying an experimental Army strike weapon, exploded after taking off from a launch pad in Alaska.

The target Monday was Kwajalein in the Marshall Islands but Army flight controllers blew up the rocket for safety reasons after detecting an anomaly, according to the Defense Department. Debris from the three-stage, solid-fuel launch vehicle fell on the state-owned launch facility on Kodiak Island. No one was injured. The rocket carried the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon, a glider designed to fly at thousands of miles per hour and reach targets anywhere in the world in less than an hour.

The Defense Department paid about $5 million to lease the launch complex, Campbell said. He watched the launch from a maintenance building about 2 miles away and said the rocket crashed in a "gigantic explosion." "It was a significant event, but it wasn't the scariest thing I've ever had in my life," he said. "We're going to have to assess damages and figure out what the future is." A military safety team from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson was assigned to clean up unexploded fuel and other debris. No other launches are pending, Campbell said.

Explosion of experimental Army rocket damaged buildings at launch site - Army - Stripes
 

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