| NASA Center: |
Ames Research Center |
|---|
| Image # : |
60-108 |
|---|
| Date : |
01/01/1960
|
|---|
|
Title
Shadowgraph Images of Re-entry Vehicles
Full Description
These four shadowgraph images represent early re-entry vehicle concepts. A
shadowgraph is a process that makes visible the disturbances that occur in a
fluid flow at high velocity, in which light passing through a flowing fluid is
refracted by the density gradients in the fluid resulting in bright and dark
areas on a screen placed behind the fluid.H. Julian Allen pioneered and
developed the Blunt Body Theory which made possible the heat shield designs that
were embodied in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space capsules, enabling
astronauts to survive the firey re-entry into Earth's atmosphere.
A blunt body produces a shockwave in front of the vehicle--visible in the
photo--that actually shields the vehicle from excessive heating. As a result,
blunt body vehicles can stay cooler than pointy, low drag vehicles.
Keywords
Shadowgraph Julian Allen Harvey Allen Blunt Body Theory Mercury Gemini Reentry
Subject Category
NACA-ARC, Wind Tunnels-Interior,
Reference Numbers
- Center:
AMES
- Center Number:
60-108
- GRIN DataBase Number:
GPN-2000-001938
Source Information
| Resolution | Format | Width
(Pixels) | Height
(Pixels) | Size
(KBytes) |
Thumbnail |
.jpg |
90 |
70 |
8 |
Small |
.jpg |
643 |
497 |
184 |
Medium |
.jpg |
1506 |
1164 |
814 |
Large |
.jpg |
3011 |
2328 |
3,133 |
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Updated October 31, 2002
• History Questions: NASA History Office
• Responsible NASA Official: Steve Garber
• Author: Michael Hahn. Editor: Dwayne A. Day
• Curator & Technical Questions: Erin Needham
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