Author Topic: NASA Hypersonic Inflatable Tech Test Set For Virginia Launch July 21  (Read 29045 times)

Offline douglas100

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Glad it went well. Anyone know if it was successfully recovered?
Douglas Clark

Offline neilh

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Congrats!

In case anybody was wondering what "a high-speed U.S. Navy Stiletto boat" is, it's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M80_Stiletto

Kinda bad-ass recovery ship.

One of my first thoughts about this earlier this morning was...  "that would be perfectfor spacex recovery if they wanted to go with the whole dr. no/evil joke."

On a more serious note, did they have to choose the Stiletto because they had only a vague idea where the craft would reenter and the Stiletto's speed gave them a huge range for recovery?  Or do the Navy SEALS just have the day off so they decided to loan out one of their babies. ;)

I also wonder if the Stiletto's interior sea-level dock (not sure what you call it) can be used to retrieve the heat shield from the water directly, without having to lift it with a crane.
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Offline BrightLight

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Does anyone know the condition of the payload now that it back?

Offline Rocket Science

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My favorite inflatable, Moose... Woohoo! Enjoy the ride! ;D

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/moose.htm


"The laws of physics are unforgiving"
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Offline block51

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As of some time yesterday afternoon they hadn't recovered it yet. I'll ask around and see what I can find out though.

Offline Prober

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My favorite inflatable, Moose... Woohoo! Enjoy the ride! ;D

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/moose.htm




signs Rocket Science up for the Moose test program 
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Offline BrightLight

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As of some time yesterday afternoon they hadn't recovered it yet. I'll ask around and see what I can find out though.
Thanks!
This is a great piece of technology if we can get payload back to the surface intact!!
very exciting.

Offline Rocket Science

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My favorite inflatable, Moose... Woohoo! Enjoy the ride! ;D

http://www.astronautix.com/craft/moose.htm




signs Rocket Science up for the Moose test program 
Thanks! ;D

I’ll see if I can fit it in my shooting schedule. I’m Buster’s stunt double on Mythbusters… :D
« Last Edit: 07/24/2012 03:55 pm by Rocket Science »
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Offline block51

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As of some time yesterday afternoon they hadn't recovered it yet. I'll ask around and see what I can find out though.
Thanks!
This is a great piece of technology if we can get payload back to the surface intact!!
very exciting.

I've heard from an engineer on the project on the wallops side (well, contractor... point is not an engineer on the Langley team) they didn't find it and they aren't going to unless it washes up at this point. The surveillance plane spotted what they thought was it looking and directed them towards something but it ended up being part of or all of a derelict sailboat.

After talking with some people on the project, recovery wasn't a primary objective so they aren't too upset by it. Also, I can confirm that in the mission readiness review document it was not listed as a requirement under minimum or comprehensive success.

Online plutogno

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IRVE was apparently initially designed "to enable the exploration of higher-altitude terrain on Mars" (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22094-inflatable-spacecraft-makes-successful-splash-landing.html)
any reference for this?
also, have a look at this very cool prez, with lots of technical details http://www.planetaryprobe.org/SessionFiles/Session6B/Presentations/7_Dillman_IRVE-3.pdf

Offline robertross

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As of some time yesterday afternoon they hadn't recovered it yet. I'll ask around and see what I can find out though.
Thanks!
This is a great piece of technology if we can get payload back to the surface intact!!
very exciting.

I've heard from an engineer on the project on the wallops side (well, contractor... point is not an engineer on the Langley team) they didn't find it and they aren't going to unless it washes up at this point. The surveillance plane spotted what they thought was it looking and directed them towards something but it ended up being part of or all of a derelict sailboat.

After talking with some people on the project, recovery wasn't a primary objective so they aren't too upset by it. Also, I can confirm that in the mission readiness review document it was not listed as a requirement under minimum or comprehensive success.

Thanks, and for the great pics.

Congrats to NASA. This is a great technology demonstrator.

Offline jcm

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IRVE was apparently initially designed "to enable the exploration of higher-altitude terrain on Mars" (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22094-inflatable-spacecraft-makes-successful-splash-landing.html)
any reference for this?
also, have a look at this very cool prez, with lots of technical details http://www.planetaryprobe.org/SessionFiles/Session6B/Presentations/7_Dillman_IRVE-3.pdf

Great link, thanks!
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Online plutogno

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jcm, thanks for having included the reentry speed of the inflatable reentry tests so far in your latest space report. it gives an idea of how much work remains to be done.
you mention IRVE-3 reentry speed at about 2.7 km/s, which is much less than needed for LEO rentry (7 km/s), Mars landing (6-7 km/s) or hyperbolic reentry to Earth (>10 km/s)

Offline Fuji

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Congratulation NASA.

JAXA also setting similar flight test Aug. 8th using S-310-41 rocket.
Originally, launch date is setting July 10th. But heavy rain cause the launch delay due to landslides in the Uchinoura space center.


Reentry Demonstration Plan of Flare-type Membrane Aeroshell for Atmospheric Entry Vehicle using a Sounding Rocket
http://gd.isas.jaxa.jp/~kzyamada/MAAC/2011/publication/2011_0525_AIAA-S-MAAC.pdf




Offline BrightLight

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jcm, thanks for having included the reentry speed of the inflatable reentry tests so far in your latest space report. it gives an idea of how much work remains to be done.
you mention IRVE-3 reentry speed at about 2.7 km/s, which is much less than needed for LEO rentry (7 km/s), Mars landing (6-7 km/s) or hyperbolic reentry to Earth (>10 km/s)
Additional information extracted from Aviation Week:
tag date July 24, 2012

"The 680-lb. flight demonstration payload lifted off at 7:01 a.m. EDT from Wallops Flight Facility atop a three-stage Black Brant sounding rocket that carried it to an altitude of 253 nm, where its onboard control system flipped it over and inflated its concentric-ring structure with nitrogen into a 10-ft.-dia. aeroshell covered with a four-layer thermal blanket.

The blanket — an outer layer of ceramic-fiber Nextel, two layers of silica Pyrogel and a gas barrier to prevent burnthrough — protected the inflated structure as it re-entered the atmosphere at speeds on the order of Mach 10, which generated outer temperatures of about 1000F and mechanical loading of about 20 gs.

“We saw actually a more energetic entry than we were expecting,” Cheatwood said in a post-flight press conference. “We saw about 15 watts per centimeter squared of heating. But our thermocouples actually showed a little bit lower temperatures than we would expect in response to that.” "

IMHO This is a very impressive step forward towards a lightweight, low volume/mass re-entry system. A ways to go to get to orbital re-entry but a well sized step nonetheless!

Online catdlr

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...and now for the video results of the test flight

Inflatables in space

Published on Dec 14, 2012
Published:  NASA LANGLEY
Three years of their hard work plunged in the Atlantic Ocean in summer of 2012 and a group of NASA Langley engineers could not have been more thrilled.

They were part of the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) team that is working to develop an inflatable heat shield. The technology could be used to protect spacecraft when entering a planet's atmosphere or returning here to Earth.

Watch as a 22-inch diameter rocket launches the IRVE 290 miles up and an inflation system pumps up its rings so it expands to 10 feet in diameter. Check out the Earth in the background as the inflatable heat shield reenters the atmosphere at speeds of Mach 10, then falls into the sea.

« Last Edit: 12/14/2012 09:22 pm by catdlr »
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Offline A_M_Swallow

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"The 680-lb. flight demonstration payload lifted off at 7:01 a.m. EDT from Wallops Flight Facility atop a three-stage Black Brant sounding rocket that carried it to an altitude of 253 nm, where its onboard control system flipped it over and inflated its concentric-ring structure with nitrogen into a 10-ft.-dia. aeroshell covered with a four-layer thermal blanket.

{snip}

Assuming that a test payload is smaller than a real payload, how big a payload is the inflatable heat shield designed to take?

Offline deltaV

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The surveillance plane spotted what they thought was it looking and directed them towards something but it ended up being part of or all of a derelict sailboat.

I would have thought the payload would tell them exactly where it is via GPS and satellite communication. Why did they resort to an expensive and ineffective surveillance plane?

Offline solartear

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"The 680-lb. flight demonstration payload lifted off at 7:01 a.m. EDT from Wallops Flight Facility atop a three-stage Black Brant sounding rocket that carried it to an altitude of 253 nm, where its onboard control system flipped it over and inflated its concentric-ring structure with nitrogen into a 10-ft.-dia. aeroshell covered with a four-layer thermal blanket.

{snip}

Assuming that a test payload is smaller than a real payload, how big a payload is the inflatable heat shield designed to take?

http://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/home/feature_irve3.html is somewhat vague, but gives a rough estimate.
Quote
That initiative could make possible returning several metric tons back to Earth from the International Space Station, making use of an aeroshell of some 26 feet to 32 feet (7.9 meters to 9.8 meters) in diameter.

Offline russianhalo117

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The surveillance plane spotted what they thought was it looking and directed them towards something but it ended up being part of or all of a derelict sailboat.

I would have thought the payload would tell them exactly where it is via GPS and satellite communication. Why did they resort to an expensive and ineffective surveillance plane?
partially due to communications blackout period typical of reentering SC.

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