A reinforced carbon-carbon thermal protection system is used on the space shuttle orbiter vehicle's nose cap and wing leading edge regions where temperatures reach 1538 C (2800 F). To verify the analyses used to certify reinforced carbon-carbon for the first flight and operational missions, a multi-environment incremental test program was developed and implemented through the combined efforts of Rockwell International and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Three separate facilities at the Johnson Space Center were used to subject full-scale nose cap and wing leading edge test articles to simulated critical launch, on-orbit, and atmospheric entry environments.
Space Shuttle Orbiter nose cap and wing leading edge certification test program
1980-01-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Dynamic Impact Tolerance of Space Shuttle Orbiter Wing Leading-Edge Panels
Online Contents | 2008
|Space Shuttle Orbiter nose cap thermal analysis
AIAA | 1986
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