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| Date: |
03.11.1997 |
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| Title: |
X-33 Metal Model Testing In Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel |
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| Description: |
The countrys next generation of space transportation, a reusable launch vehicle (RLV), continues to undergo wind tunnel testing at NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. All four photos are a metal model of the X-33 reusable launch vehicle (about 15 inches long by 15 inches wide) being tested for Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in the Low Turbulence Pressure Tunnel (LTPT) at NASA Langley Research Center. Tests are being conducted by members of the Aerothermodynamics Branch. According to Kelly Murphy of Langleys Aerothermodynamics Branch, the aluminum and stainless steel model of the X-33 underwent aerodynamic testing in the tunnel. *The subsonic tests were conducted at the speed of Mach 25,* she said. *Force and moment testing and measurement in this tunnel lasted about one week.* Future testing of the metal model is scheduled for Langleys 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel, from the end of March to mid-April 1997, and the Unitary Wind Tunnel, from mid-April to the beginning of May. Other tunnel testing for X-33 models are scheduled from the present through June in the hypersonic tunnels, and the 14- by 22-Foot Tunnel from about mid-June to mid-July. Since 1991 Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. has been the lead center for coordinating the Agencys X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Program, an industry-led effort, which NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin has declared the agency's highest priority new program. The RLV Technology Program is a partnership among NASA, the United States Air Force and private industry to develop world leadership in low-cost space transportation. The goal of the program is to develop technologies and new operational concepts that can radically reduce the cost of access to space. The RLV program also hopes to speed the commercialization of space and improve U.S. economic competitiveness by making access to space as routine and reliable as today's airline industry, while reducing costs and enhancing safety and reliability. The RLV program combines ground and flight demonstrations. The use of experimental flight vehicles like the X-33, to be developed by Lockheed Martin Corp., Palmdale, Calif. will help verify full-up systems performance in a realistic environment. |
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| ID: |
EL-1997-00044 |
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| Other ID: |
L97-1042 |
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| Credit: |
NASA Langley Research Center
(NASA-LaRC) |
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