X-43A Stage Separation System - A Flight Data Evaluation

Blocker, Wayne D.; Reubush, D. E.

doi:10.2514/6.2005-3335

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…29 and background information on the stage separation system with flight data evaluation is provided in Ref. 30. All trajectory data are well within the pre-flight predictions, indicating an essentially perfect separation between the launch vehicle and the research vehicle.…”

Section: Separationmentioning

confidence: 59%

Hyper-X Mach 10 Trajectory Reconstruction

Karlgaard

Martín

Tartabini

et al. 2005

AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit

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This paper discusses the formulation and development of a trajectory reconstruction tool for the NASA X-43A/Hyper-X high speed research vehicle, and its implementation for the reconstruction and analysis of flight test data. Extended Kalman filtering techniques are employed to reconstruct the trajectory of the vehicle, based upon numerical integration of inertial measurement data along with redundant measurements of the vehicle state. The equations of motion are formulated in order to include the effects of several systematic error sources, whose values may also be estimated by the filtering routines. Additionally, smoothing algorithms have been implemented in which the final value of the state (or an augmented state that includes other systematic error parameters to be estimated) and covariance are propagated back to the initial time to generate the best-estimated trajectory, based upon all available data. The methods are applied to the problem of reconstructing the trajectory of the Hyper-X vehicle from data obtained during the Mach 10 test flight, which occurred on November 16th 2004.

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Section: Separationmentioning

confidence: 59%

Hyper-X Mach 10 Trajectory Reconstruction

Karlgaard

Martín

Tartabini

et al. 2005

AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference and Exhibit

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“…The entire simulation, which includes the user-defined modules wrapped around the ADAMS solver, is known as SepSim. 7 In addition, another independent separation simulation was developed prior to the Mach 7 flight as an additional risk reduction measure to verify the SepSim results. This independent simulation, which was developed using the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST) 4,5 , was less detailed than SepSim, but was simpler, more concise and ran faster, while providing similar results.…”

Section: A Simulation Methodologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pistons were modeled in the simulation as a spring with a test-derived axial force profile that was a function of time and extension length, and with lateral restoring forces computed from beam deflection theory. 7 After the Mach 7 flight the piston model was assessed by comparing the axial acceleration from simulation results to acceleration data derived from telemetry. The flight data was well captured in the simulation results as illustrated in Fig.…”

Section: Start Of Separationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mach 10 Stage Separation Analysis for the X43-A

Tartabini

Bose

Thornblom

et al. 2006

44th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit

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This paper describes the pre-flight stage separation analysis that was conducted in support of the final flight of the X-43A. In that flight, which occurred less than eight months after the successful Mach 7 flight, the X-43A Research Vehicle attained a peak speed of Mach 9.6. Details are provided on how the lessons learned from the Mach 7 flight affected separ ation modeling and how adjustments were made to account for the increased flight Mach number. Also, the procedure for defining the feedback loop closure and feed-forward parameters employed in the separation control logic are described, and their effect on separ ation performance is explained. In addition, the range and nominal values of these parameters, which were included in the Mission Data Load, are presented. Once updates were made, the nominal pre-flight trajectory and Monte Carlo statistical results were determined and stress tests were performed to ensure system robustness. During flight the vehicle performed within the uncertainty bounds predicted in the pre-flight analysis and ultimately set the world record for airbreathing powered flight.

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“…Following stage separation from the rocket booster (boost and stage separation discussed in references [23][24][25][26][27], the X-43A F2 research vehicle stabilized to 2.5° AOA, and the engine cowl was opened. After 5 seconds of tare force measurements, the engine was ignited with a pyrophoric silane-hydrogen fuel mixture (left side of fig.…”

Section: X-43a Free Flightmentioning

confidence: 99%

X-43 Hypersonic Vehicle Technology Development

Voland

Huebner

McClinton

2005

56th International Astronautical Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, the International Academy of Astronaut

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NASA recently completed two major programs in Hypersonics: Hyper-X, with the record-breaking flights of the X-43A, and the Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) Program. The X-43A flights, the culmination of the Hyper-X Program, were the first-ever examples of a scramjet engine propelling a hypersonic vehicle and provided unique, convincing, detailed flight data required to validate the design tools needed for design and development of future operational hypersonic airbreathing vehicles. Concurrent with Hyper-X, NASA's NGLT Program focused on technologies needed for future revolutionary launch vehicles. The NGLT was "competed" by NASA in response to the President's redirection of the agency to space exploration, after making significant progress towards maturing technologies required to enable airbreathing hypersonic launch vehicles. NGLT quantified the benefits, identified technology needs, developed airframe and propulsion technology, chartered a broad University base, and developed detailed plans to mature and validate hypersonic airbreathing technology for space access. NASA is currently in the process of defining plans for a new Hypersonic Technology Program. Details of that plan are not currently available. This paper highlights results from the successful Mach 7 and 10 flights of the X-43A, and the current state of hypersonic technology.

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X-43A Stage Separation System - A Flight Data Evaluation

Cited by 7 publications

References 1 publication

Hyper-X Mach 10 Trajectory Reconstruction

Hyper-X Mach 10 Trajectory Reconstruction

Mach 10 Stage Separation Analysis for the X43-A

X-43 Hypersonic Vehicle Technology Development

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