The images were seen on NASA TV and by classrooms connected to the Internet before, during and after a launch Sept. 18. This was the first time that Ames flew a sounding rocket in more than 20 years. They were conducted to develop and test candidate technologies for next generation planetary exploration missions and to study general problems associated with high speed flight. We call this test method a 'wind tunnel in the sky,''' said Marc Murbach, research scientist in the Space Projects division. He explained that, instead of using a wind tunnel to simulate re-entry, sounding rockets can be used to conduct multiple flight experiments.
Wind tunnels are chambers through which air flows during tests of airplane and spacecraft shapes.
In the tunnels, air is blown around airplane and rocket models to simulate flight. The flight experiments can provide unique data that can't be gathered using ground facilities. We wanted to develop a generic 'facility' that would allow an easy accommodation of different sorts of experiments,' Murbach said. For one thing, we are learning how to use hypersonic decelerators to slow planetary entry vehicles. One of our decelerator devices is deployable and is conical in shape.