[meteorite-list] NASA Successfully Tests Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield

[Ron Baalke]

July 23, 2012

David E. Steitz 
Headquarters, Washington      
202-358-1730 
david.steitz at nasa.gov 

Kathy Barnstorff 
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. 
757-864-9886/757-244-8511 
kathy.barnstorff at nasa.gov 

Keith Koehler 
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. 
757-824-1579 
keith.a.koehler at nasa.gov 

RELEASE: 12-250

NASA SUCCESSFULLY TESTS HYPERSONIC INFLATABLE HEAT SHIELD

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- 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. 

After its flight, IRVE-3 fell into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of 
North Carolina. From launch to splashdown, the flight lasted about 20 
minutes. A high-speed U.S. Navy Stiletto boat is in the area with a 
crew that will attempt to retrieve IRVE-3. The Stiletto is a maritime 
demonstration craft operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center 
Carderock, Combatant Craft Division, and is based at Joint 
Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Ft Story, Va. 

"A team of NASA engineers and technicians spent the last three years 
preparing for the IRVE-3 flight," said Lesa Roe, director of NASA's 
Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. "We are pushing the 
boundaries with this flight. We look forward to future test launches 
of even bigger inflatable aeroshells." 

This test was a follow-on to the successful IRVE-2, which showed an 
inflatable heat shield could survive intact after coming through 
Earth's atmosphere. IRVE-3 was the same size as IRVE-2, but had a 
heavier payload and was subjected to a much higher re-entry heat, 
more like what a heat shield might encounter in space. 

IRVE-3 is part of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator 
(HIAD) Project within the Game Changing Development Program, part of 
NASA's Space Technology Program. Langley developed and manages the 
IRVE-3 and HIAD programs. 

For more information about IRVE-3 and the HIAD Project, go to: 

http://www.nasa.gov/hiad 

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov 
	
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