Road to Mach 10 : lessons learned from the X-43A flight research program / Curtis Peebles.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peebles, Curtis.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Dryden Flight Research Facility.

X-43A (Hypersonic plane) [proposed].

Dryden Flight Research Facility--History.

United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration--Research.

United States.

Hypersonic planes--Research--United States.

Hypersonic planes.

Hypersonic planes--Research.

Research.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 238 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm + 1 CD-ROM (4 3/4 in.)

Place of Publication:

Reston, VA : American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, [2008]

Summary:

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "X-43A related papers and reports ... X-43A/Hyper-X flights I and II (a split-screen video of the flights), [and] X-43A Mach 10 final flight (video highlights of the final mission)."--P. 237-38.

Contents:

Preface: The Historian as Participant xi

Development of the Scramjet 2

Airframe-Integrated Scramjet 13

National Hypersonic Flight Research Facility 15

National Aerospace Plane 19

Scramjet Development-Lessons not Learned from 1958 to 1994 24

Chapter 2 Phoenix from the Ashes 27

Small-Scale Hypersonic Vehicles 28

Goldin's Rules 32

Origins and Decisions 36

From Paper Plans to a Preliminary Design 42

Propellant Off-loading 44

Vehicle Recovery 46

Stack Frequency 48

Separating Is Hard to Do 50

Initial Efforts - A Summing up 53

Chapter 3 March to the First Flight 57

Hyper-X Launch-Vehicle Modifications and Wind-Tunnel Testing 57

Hyper-X Separation Anxiety 60

Building the X-43A Hyper-X Research Vehicle 68

Mach 7 Scramjet Engine Development and Testing 78

Uncharted Territory-Hyper-X Scramjet at Mach 10 85

Chapter 4 X-43A Checkout and Emergency Procedures Training 91

Step by Step 93

Discrepancy Reports, Configuration Change Requests, System Test Reports, and Waivers-Alphabet of Configuration Control 103

Emergency Procedures Training 108

Launch Day 117

Chapter 5 13.5 Seconds 123

June 2, 2001 124

Mishap Investigation Board 131

Decision as an Art, not a Science 141

Dealing with Failure 142

Chapter 6 Return to Flight 145

Revisiting the Simulations and Procedural Changes 145

Options for Reducing Transonic Dynamic Pressure 147

Fin Actuation System 152

Fin-Actuation-System Latch-up 155

Final Fixes 156

Chapter 7 C[subscript t] > C[subscript d] 161

Flight 2 162

Fastest Airplane in the World 169

After the Flight 176

Significance of Flight 2 178

Chapter 8 To the Edge of the Envelope 181

Fin Actuation System, Again 184

Tech Brief 190

A Long Day 193

To the Edge of the Envelope 195

Chapter 9 To the Far Horizon 209

Hypersonic Lessons Learned 211

To the Far Horizon 224.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781563479328

156347932X

OCLC:

183928623