William Atkins
Friday, 22 August 2008 19:48
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 3
The rocket was carrying two experimental payloads.
The Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition (Hy-BoLT) experimental payload would have tested air flow conditions such as temperatures and pressures of different parts of the vehicle’s surface during hypersonic flight.
Specifically, the test would have included speeds up to Mach 8, eight times the speed of sound, or 5,280 miles (8,800 kilometers) per hour, and up to an altitude of 250 miles (400 kilometers).
Hy-BoLT had the shape of a flat-head screwdriver, a shape designed to
"pierce the atmosphere to assess the boundary layer, a very thin layer of air that flows over the surface of a vehicle in flight."
It was a project of the
Hypersonics Project of the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program. [NASA: "
Team to Investigate Launch Failure", please note: photographs of the rocket and its payloads are included at this website]
Before the flight, Mark Croom, chief enginner for Hy-BoLT, stated,
"We should be able to conquer some of the challenges of hypersonic flight if
we can get a better handle on air flow. At
hypersonic speeds the temperature of the flow around the aircraft or spacecraft
is so great that it affects just about everything. That includes the shape of
the vehicle, the material it's made of and even the chemistry of the molecules
in the air." [NASA]
Page three talks about the other primary payload.
