Computer Program Automates Thermal Analyses

A computer program (see figure) has been developed to serve as a time- and cost-effective means of automating thermal analyses of such hypersonic flight systems as the space shuttle orbiter, the National Aerospace Plane (NASP), and the crew return vehicle (CRV). Heretofore, thermal analyses of the space shuttle orbiter have been performed manually and have, therefore, been hindered by long cycle times and the risk of human error. The present thermal-analysis automation program, which represents an advance in the state of the art, is expected to enable the sizing and analysis of thermal protection systems (TPSs) of re-entry space vehicles (RSVs) while increasing the accuracy of the analyses, reducing the amounts of labor needed to perform the analyses, and reducing the costs of the analyses.