A hot jet research facility, used extensively in the design and development of the reentry heat shield on the Project Mercury spacecraft. The electrically-heated arc jet simulates the friction heating encountered by a space vehicle as it returns to the earth's atmosphere at high velocities. The arc jet was located in Langley's Structures Research Laboratory. It was capable of heating the air stream to about 9,000 degrees F. -- Published in Taken from an October 5, 1961 press release entitled: Hot Jet Research Facility used in Reentry Studies will be demonstrated at NASA Open House, October 7.
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NASA ID
LRC-1959-B701_P-05705
Date Created
August 20, 1959
Center
LARC
Media Type
image
Photographer
NASA
Location
NASA Langley Research Center
Mar 25, 1977