SHUTTLE ENTRY AEROTHERMODYNAMIC FLIGHT RESEARCH - THE ORBITER EXPERIMENTS PROGRAM

Routine operations of the nation's Space Transportation System have provided recurring opportunities for aerothermodynamicists to study entry aerothermal phenomena unique to lifting entry vehicles in hypersonic flight. Initiated in the mid-1970s, the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) Program provided a mechanisms for utilization of the Shuttle Orbiter as an entry research vehicle as an adjunct to it normal operational mission. The data derived from OEX Program experiments represent benchmark hypersonic night results heretofore unavailable for a lifting entry vehicle. These data are being used in a continual process of validation of state-of-the-art methods, both experimental and computational, for simulating and/or predicting the aerothermodynamic flight characteristics of advanced space transportation vehicles. The OEX Program complement of research experiments is described, typical flight data obtained by these experiments are presented, and utilization of these data for validation of advanced vehicle aerothermodynamic design tools is demonstrated.