Some of the aerodynamic and interference effects measured from wind-tunnel tests of three fully reusable space shuttle configurations at transonic and low-supersonic speeds are presented, and the status is given of an assessment of the analytical approach to date. The three configurations tested were a low-fineness-ratio booster combined in tandem with a delta-wing orbiter, designated the "low-fineness-ratio configuration,' and a phase B shuttle configuration consisting of the delta-wing orbiter and high-fineness-ratio booster, designated the "stage-arrangement configuration,' arranged in tandem and in parallel. The force measurements obtained at a Mach number of 1.5 for the low-fineness-ratio configuration were representative of the transonic and low-supersonic speed ranges where the interference effects are predominant and were used for comparison with values calculated at the same Mach number. This comparison is the basis for a preliminary assessment of the initial application of the analytical approach.
Status of Langley studies of aerodynamics and interference effects of tandem launch vehicles
1972-02-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Aerodynamics of Launch Vehicles
Springer Verlag | 2015
|Langley Symposium on Aerodynamics. Volume 1
NTIS | 1986
|Langley Symposium on Aerodynamics, volume 1
NTRS | 1986
|