AEDC testers react to upcoming first orbital flight test of X-37

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  The U.S. Air Force-Boeing X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV) is set to launch into space atop an Atlas V booster from Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 21.

The upcoming launch has caught the attention of engineers, technicians and craftsmen at AEDC who supported the X-37 program over the years.

"It's great to see the data we provided from Tunnel 9 on the X-37 directly supporting the upcoming hypersonic flight test," said Joe Coblish, projects group team leader at AEDC's Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9. "It's an exciting time in the field of hypersonics.

"In the flight regime of hypersonics, we test cutting-edge experimental configurations that do not always make it to flight," he continued. "Flying at hypersonic speeds can present extreme design challenges to system developers and developing cost-effective solutions in today's economic environment can be difficult on shrinking budgets."

Tunnel 9 supported the X-37 twice while it was a NASA program, first in 1999 and again in 2003.

"Both tests looked at high alpha - up to 60 degrees angle of attack - reentry aerodynamics," Coblish said. "[This] required the Mach 14 capability at Tunnel 9, being it is the highest Mach number wind tunnel in the U.S. capable of collecting integrated force and moment data."

John Hopf, a senior project engineer at AEDC, is proud of the role he and his coworkers had in testing the X-37 in the von Kàrmàn Gas Dynamics Facility Tunnels A, B and C in 2001 and 2004.

"I consider the X-37 jet interaction test my favorite test during my 24-year career at AEDC because it served as a valuable learning opportunity for me by offering numerous technical challenges," he said. "I relied heavily on the expertise of a very experienced and dedicated core test team at VKF to meet and exceed the customer's expectations by achieving the all of test objectives with a minimal number of delays or problems."

According to Air Force officials, the X-37B is similar to the space shuttle except it is about a fourth the size and unmanned. The OTV, at 27.5 feet long with a 15-foot wingspan, will operate in low Earth orbit like the space shuttle and will "take a suite of next-generation technologies to orbit."