Noctilucent clouds are the “highest, driest, coldest, and rarest clouds on Earth.” Formed in the mesosphere at altitudes over 80 kilometers, these clouds typically form at polar latitudes where they Keep reading
Tag: space shuttle
Space Shuttle Sonic Booms
The Space Shuttle had a famous double sonic boom when passing overhead during re-entry. This schlieren flow visualization of a model shuttle at Mach 3 reveals the source of the Keep reading
How Fluid Dynamics Saved the Space Shuttle
New FYFD video! In which Dianna Cowern (Physics Girl) joins me to explore boundary layer transition and how a couple of small bits of roughness could be a huge problem Keep reading
Shuttle Re-Entry
Complicated shock wave patterns envelope vehicles traveling at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. A shock wave is essentially a very tiny region–only a few mean free path lengths wide–over which flow conditions, including density, pressure, velocity, and temperature, Keep reading
STS-135: The Final Shuttle Flight
Condensation clouds form around sections of Atlantis as STS-135–the final space shuttle flight–launches from Cape Canaveral this morning. These clouds, also called Prandtl-Glauert singularities or vapor cones, form at transonic Keep reading
Wind Tunnel Testing
A scale model of the Space Shuttle attached to its modified 747 carrier hangs in a NASA wind tunnel. Wind tunnel tests can be used for flow visualization, lift and Keep reading
Discovery Wingtip Vortices
Wingtip vortices mark the path of Discovery as she makes her final landing. Though not always visible, these vortices are generated by any lifting body planform and can be a Keep reading
Godspeed, Discovery!
The space shuttle, despite three decades of service, remains a triumph of engineering. Although it is nominally a space vehicle, fluid dynamics are vital throughout its operation. From the combustion Keep reading
Happy Anniversary, Enterprise!
Wind tunnels are great, but there’s nothing like a flight test to learn about the aerodynamics of a new vehicle. Today in 1977, the space shuttle prototype Enterprise flew on Keep reading