Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The placement of those 400-plus sensors was critical to the success of the flight mission. To create a wealth of data from this experiment, the vehicle had two different instrument layouts. One side of the vehicle was designed to capture the natural breakdown to turbulence during flight. The other side served as a trip side that captured data from forced transition and turbulence during hypersonic flight. The BOLT II flight experiment launched in March 2022 from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Still, the APL team, along with DLR, the organization coordinating the launch campaign with SSC, did what it could while waiting for pandemic restrictions to ease and international travel to become possible once again.
X-Bow’s team will now examine the XL-2 mission data, inspect the recovered hardware and move on to test its additively manufactured solid propellant technology on its second mission, sponsored by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and the Department of Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Multiple further launches of increasing size and capabilities in support of, and under contract with, additional customers are scheduled through 2024, and beyond. X-Bow also continues to offer its Bolt ‘Orbital Vehicle’ to the U.S. Space Force on the OSP-4 contract. Artist’s impression of the Boeing X-51A Waverider, a scramjet powered hypersonic test vehicle. U.S. Air Force We have some excellent data, and I'm really excited to see how it all lines up," said Wirth. "You have this complicated 3D geometry with a lot going on, so step number one is just to look at the flight trajectory."
Our AIAA Websites
When engineers can’t accurately predict the transition to turbulent flow, they must design conservatively. This was the case with the space shuttle orbiters. Each was protected during reentry by heat-absorbing tiles designed to withstand greater heat than was probably necessary. The concern is that swirls in the turbulent flow mix the boundary layer air much more than the smooth, laminar flow occurring before the transition. This mixing drags more high-speed flow close to the surface, which creates a lot more friction and up to eight times the heat created by laminar flow. A different shape
Similarly, two separate initiators or detonators could be used. Either one or both will function the bolt. The main draw for Book Bird is their Gold Library which houses all sorts of low content book templates so that you can start making your low content book in minutes. If we can validate our theories and actually understand what's happening with the physics, then we can make better engineering decisions and enable the next generation of hypersonics," he said.Because of their ability to replicate expected BOLT II flight conditions in CUBRC's facilities, researchers now have the opportunity to compare more precise data between the flight experiment and ground tests. One of the biggest advantages of Canva is its simplicity. With a drag-and-drop interface and tons of templates to choose from, it's easy to create a professional-looking interior for your low-content book. Pricing: Etsy sells individual templates at various prices that can vary wildly based on the quantity of templates included. Final Thoughts If you’re actually trying to make something that flies, you should know that, right?” says AFRL’s Ivett Leyva, the BOLT project manager and creator. There’s not a single wind tunnel that we’ve dreamt of and built that can catch all of these requirements and give us good flow. It just doesn’t exist. So we have to fly,” she says. “It’s just the natural environment where you want to understand the physics.”
The Responsive Development Experiment (ReDX) flight test is the first example of what we expect to be a fruitful collaboration between the Laboratory and X-Bow Systems. This partnership will enable the Laboratory to leverage the revolution in commercial space flight and provide our scientists and engineers with rapid and cost-effective access to experimental flight test data. Experiments conducted at a high cadence are the surest path to learning and innovation and provide one of the best ways we have to train a new generation of scientific and engineering staff," says Charlie Nakhleh, Associate Laboratory Director, Weapons Physics, at Los Alamos National Labs.This “boundary layer” is very important, as most of the heating happens here, along with a significant portion of the drag forces that try to slow down the vehicle.
A separate experiment is run on each side of the vehicle, with one “smooth” side and one “rough” side. The flow running length along the vehicle is 1 metre, slightly larger than the original BOLT vehicle. However, X-Bow claims that its propellants, motors and vehicles are different, in that 3D printing them allows for their rapid iteration, and tailoring to mission-specific parameters. By fuelling its engines with an additive manufactured propellant, made up of grains that can be 3D printed to specification, the firm also says they’re “uniquely optimizable” in a way that’s not possible via traditional manufacturing. X-Bow’s suite of small launch vehicles. Photo via X-Bow. Most electrical initiators/detonators are functioned using 3.5 amps which is in accordance with MIL specs and standards. These devices have also been tested as high as 22 amps. Cap discharge methods can be used as well as long as enough energy is provided.
Learn how to build a business online
Stay up to date with everything that is happening in the wonderful world of AM via our LinkedIn community. Sponsored by the US Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and the Department of Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), the next program is expected to revolve around the company’s additively manufactured solid propellant. The flight experiment was designed to provide access to hypersonic boundary layer turbulence measurements in a combination of low-disturbance air and high Reynolds numbers seen in flight, but that are not achievable in ground test facilities,” said Dr. Sarah Popkin, who oversees the AFRL/AFOSR BOLT II project as AFOSR’s Program Officer for High-Speed Aerodynamics. Texas A&M is the first university to lead a flight test. Key collaborators on the science mission included CUBRC, NASA, University of Minnesota, United States Air Force Academy, University of Maryland, University of Arizona and JHUAPL. The U.S. until now has muddled through in the hypersonic realm without firm data about the boundary layer transition. “If you have uncertainty on how hot your flying object is going to get, you have to think how you’re going to survive with that uncertainty,” explains Leyva.
Great Deal 
New Comment