An experiment was performed on the second Space Shuttle flight to verify data from arc-heated wind-tunnel tests indicating that the thermal protection tiles used on the Shuttle's surface are noncatalytic to the recombination of dissociated air. The experiment indicates that the tiles are indeed noncatalytic, and explains the lower than expected temperatures observed in the first two Shuttle flights. The data are reasonably well predicted with computations, using a chemically reactive boundary-layer code. The experimental setup and the computational analysis are described.


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    Title :

    Results of a flight experiment on the catalytic efficiency of the Space Shuttle heat shield


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Joint Thermophysics, Fluids, Plasma and Heat Transfer Conference ; 1982 ; St. Louis, MO


    Publication date :

    1982-06-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





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