Technical Tours
Technical tours of NASA ARC facilities will showcase a cross-section of practical solutions relevant to the problems being addressed in the CANEUS Workshops. On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 3, shuttles will take visitors on a tour of the NASA Ames Research Center facilities. Registration for these tours will be on a first come first serve basis. The tours are scheduled for 2.5 hours from 12:00 to 2:30 PM.
The tours that are on offer are:
Vertical Motion Simulator
The Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) is a unique flight simulation complex that provides researchers with exceptional tools to explore, define, and solve issues in both aircraft and spacecraft design. It offers fast and cost-effective solutions using real-time piloted simulation, realistic sensory cues, and the greatest motion range of any flight simulator in the world.
More information at:
www.aviationsystemsdivision.arc.nasa.gov/facilities/
Unitary Wind Tunnels
NASA Ames Research Center is pleased to offer the services of our premier wind tunnel facilities that have a broad range of proven testing capabilities to customers from industry, DOD, other government agencies, and academia. Recent facility modernization efforts have also resulted in significant improvements to systems directly affecting both data quality and testing productivity.
The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel Complex offers two test sections. The 11-foot is an 11 ft by 11 ft test area, Mach number from 0.20 to 1.45, unit Reynolds number from 0.30 to 9.6 million per foot, and pressures from 3.0 to 32.0 psia. The 9-foot is a supersonic wind tunnel with a test section of 9 by 7 ft, Mach numbers from 1.55 to 2.55, Reynolds numbers from 0.50 to 5.7 million per foot, pressures from 2.8 to 29.5 psia, and a maximum stagnation temperature of 600°R.
More information at:
http://www.windtunnels.arc.nasa.gov/
Ceramics Lab/ Arc Jet Complex
The Ames Arc Jet Complex is a key enabler for customers involved in the three major areas of Thermal Protection System (TPS) development: selection, validation, and qualification. The arc jet data are critical for validating TPS thermal models, heat shield designs and repairs, and ultimately for flight qualification.
The Thermophysics Facilities Branch of the Space Technology Division operates four Arc Jet test facilities of differing configurations that are serviced by common facility support equipment. These are the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF), Turbulent Flow Duct (2x9), the Panel Test Facility (PTF) and the Interactive Heating Facility (IHF). The support equipment includes two D.C. power supplies, a steam ejector driven vacuum system, a water-cooling system, high-pressure gas systems, data acquisition system, and other auxiliary systems. Highlights include:
High power (75 MW and 20 MW continuous DC power supplies)
Large test articles (up to 60 x 60 cm)
Continuous high enthalpy flows (2 to 40 MJ/kg in air)
Test times up to 60 minutes
Spectroscopic and LIF flow diagnostics available
Several tests per day
Up to 5 articles plus diagnostic swing-arm per test run (AHF)
Large continuous vacuum pumping capacity (100 g/s at 67 Pa)* capable of handling air flow rates from 0.04 to 2.3 kg/s
Ames-developed and designed segmented constricted arc heaters of 2.54, 6 and 8-cm bore
Largest within NASA and the U.S.
More information at:
http://thermo-physics.arc.nasa.gov