Development of a flight article for a hypersonic boundary-layer experiment

Preparations for a boundary-layer transition experiment to be conducted on a future flight mission of the air-launched Pegasus(R) rocket are underway. The experiment requires a flight-test article called a glove to be attached to the wing of the Mach-8 first-stage booster. A three-dimensional, nonlinear finite element analysis has been performed and significant small-scale laboratory testing has been accomplished to support the design and development of the flight-test glove. Reliance on analyses and laboratory tests has been instrumental in achieving the structural stability and strength requirements for the glove design. Results obtained from the structural analysis and laboratory testing show that all glove components are well within the allowable thermal stress and deformation requirements to satisfy experiment objectives.