Invention:
This technology is a novel test technique for characterizing entry vehicle dynamics via stratospheric balloon-dropped, free-flight testing. It uses stratospheric balloons to test hypersonic vehicles. This technique allows the vehicles to achieve hypersonic speeds through a combination of free fall and acceleration via rocket boosters after the drop. This stratospheric balloon drop concept can achieve the high subsonic or supersonic test conditions of interest to missions through the use of an innovative two-stage flight system. The test capsule is heavily instrumented such that the entire time history of the vehicle state is measured and recorded.
Background:
Hypersonic vehicles are planes, missiles, and spacecraft that travel at a velocity greater than Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound. These vehicles can provide high-speed travel on Earth and in space and are a major topic of research and innovation in the aerospace field. The dynamics of blunt-body vehicles in the supersonic and transonic regimes of atmospheric entry often play a dominant role in the design of atmospheric entry missions. Traditional methods of hypersonic flight testing, such as wind tunnels and ground-based test facilities, face limitations in replicating realistic flight conditions due to the challenges of simulating high-speed, high-altitude environments. Existing ground-based testing facilities also incur high costs and logistical complexities. Computational methods for predicting dynamic stability are improving in capability, but have yet to be adopted by missions, partially due to the sparse and non-flight-like nature of the experimental data that is currently used for validation. This technique provides a cost-competitive alternative to the existing experimental facilities, while providing vastly richer experimental data and offering improvements in the achievable similarity to full-scale flight conditions.
Applications:
- Hypersonic vehicle testing
- Aerospace & defense
- Space mission simulation
Advantages:
- Realistic test conditions
- Reduced costs
- Comprehensive data collection
- Higher availability
