A two-stage suborbital sounding rocket was launched at 7:12 p.m. EDT, March 21, for a mission managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory/Air Force Office of Scientific Research, from NASA’s launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The launch of the Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket was for the BOundary Layer Turbulence 2, or BOLT-2, BOLT-2 mission, investigating boundary layer transition, turbulent heating, and drag at hypersonic conditions. Boundary layer transition to turbulence is the process where smooth, laminar flow becomes unstable after which turbulence dominates and significantly increases heating and drag on high-speed vehicles.
The next launch from Wallops is a two-stage Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket carrying the RockOn/RockSat-C educational payload. The launch is targeted for early morning June 23.
Photo Credit: NASA Wallops/Allison Stancil
Keith Koehler
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility