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Arc Jet and Return to Flight
06.22.05
 
Links to broadcast quality audio files and transcripts, May 4, 2005 interviews with Ernest Fretter and John Balboni, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., about the Ames 'Arc Jet' facilities and their use in returning the Space Shuttle to flight.

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on-line Mono-56kps MP3 452 KB

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Full Transcript (below)


14. Q: Why are arc jet facilities key enablers in preparing for space missions?

Balboni: Well, the enabler for any heat shield design on any spacecraft is the ability to be able to test it on the ground and verify that under the severe heating and the severe temperatures that it will hold up and it will survive. And in order to do that, ah, really the only way to do that is with what's called an arc jet facility, which is an electric arc-heated wind tunnel that superheats gas, and then accelerates very high speed – very high temperatures on the ground. And then, these samples of these materials are then subjected to simulated entry over a period from seconds all the way up to several minutes or even as long as for a half an hour. So, these materials are then heated in exactly the way that they'll be heated when they're flying through the atmosphere. And in that way, the engineers have the right data to design that heat shield so that it, ah – so that you have confidence that it's going to protect the spacecraft from those severe temperatures, and it will survive the entire heating environment. (1:05 MINUTES)