The Altitude Wind Tunnel Stands Up
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Revolutionary Atmosphere Revolutionary Atmosphere The Story of the Altitude Wind Tunnel and the Space Power Chambers By Robert S. Arrighi National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA History Division Office of Communications NASA Headquarters Washington, DC 20546 SP−2010−4319 April 2010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Arrighi, Robert S., 1969- Revolutionary atmosphere: the story of the Altitude Wind Tunnel and the Space Power Chambers / by Robert S. Arrighi. p. cm. - - (NASA SP-2010-4319) “April 2010.” Includes bibliographical references. 1. Altitude Wind Tunnel (Laboratory)—History. 2. Space Power Chambers (Laboratory)—History. 3. Aeronautics—Research—United States—History. 4. Space vehicles—United States—Testing—History. I. Title. TL567.W5A77 2010 629.46’8—dc22 2010018841 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20401–0001 ISBN 978-0-16-085641-9 Contents Contents Preface ...................................................................................................................ix Acknowledgments ...............................................................................................xvii Chapter 1 Premonition: The Need for an Engine Tunnel (1936−1940) ...........................3 “I Have Seen Nothing Like Them in America” ........................................4 Evolution of the Wind Tunnel ..................................................................5 The NACA Starts Its Tunnel Collection ....................................................7 Exile of the Engine ....................................................................................8 Peace-Time War ...................................................................................... 10 Engine Research Tunnel ........................................................................ 12 Hello, Cleveland ..................................................................................... 16 Endnotes for Chapter 1 ........................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 Building a New Type of Tunnel: Design and Construction (1940−1943) ... 21 Designing a Wind Tunnel for Engines .................................................. 22 The Birth of Cool ................................................................................... 24 Struggling To Build the Laboratory ....................................................... 27 Emerging from a Sea of Mud ................................................................. 29 Model Builders Prove Their Worth ........................................................ 32 Photo Essay 1: The Altitude Wind Tunnel Stands Up .......................... 35 The Final Push ........................................................................................ 40 The Most Important Component ........................................................... 41 Endnotes for Chapter 2 ........................................................................... 44 Chapter 3 Dual Wartime Mission: The World War II Years (1944−1945) ...................... 49 Burning Up in the Sky ........................................................................... 51 “Nobody Was Really Looking Ahead” ................................................... 52 Heads in the Virginia Sand .................................................................... 55 Secret Delivery for Cleveland ................................................................ 56 The Turbojet Takes Precedence ............................................................ 58 “Too Much Damn Work” ........................................................................ 62 v Revolutionary Atmosphere “It Was So Simple” .................................................................................. 66 Forsaken ................................................................................................. 68 The Americans Get It Right ................................................................... 70 Endnotes for Chapter 3 ........................................................................... 73 Chapter 4 Age of the Axial Flow: Alternate Wartime Mission (1944−1945) ................. 77 Steam Turbine Experts Heed the Call-Up ............................................. 79 Westinghouse Designs First U.S. Turbojet ............................................ 80 General Electric Takes on the Axial-Flow Engine ................................ 82 “It Was No Accident” .............................................................................. 85 The Afterburner Comes to Life .............................................................. 88 Controlling the Thrust ............................................................................ 90 The War Is Over ..................................................................................... 91 Postwar Snapshot ................................................................................... 95 Endnotes for Chapter 4 ........................................................................... 96 Chapter 5 Will To Power: The Postwar Era (1946−1949) .............................................. 99 The Laboratory Takes a Moment To Regroup .....................................101 Project Bumblebee ................................................................................103 Photo Essay 2: How Engines Were Tested in the Altitude Wind Tunnel ................................................................................................108 “We Were All a Part of the Team” ........................................................122 Westinghouse Hits Its Stride .................................................................125 General Electric Takes Its Turn ............................................................129 British Engines Visit Cleveland .............................................................132 The Python ............................................................................................134 End of the 1940s ....................................................................................135 Endnotes for Chapter 5 ..........................................................................136 Chapter 6 A Period of Transition: Big Engines to Small Rockets (1950−1958)............141 Upgrading for Big Engines ...................................................................143 Photo Essay 3: The Altitude Wind Tunnel Gets a Boost .....................145 Westinghouse Falters .............................................................................148 Apprentice School .................................................................................152 The Mighty J57 ......................................................................................155 Project Bee .............................................................................................156 Getting Jet Engines Ready for Civilians................................................161 Where Do We Go From Here? ..............................................................164 Endnotes for Chapter 6 ..........................................................................166 vi Contents Chapter 7 Space Is the Place: Project Mercury (1959−1960) ........................................169 Lewis Guides the New Space Agency ..................................................170 The Altitude Wind Tunnel Applies Itself to the Space Program .........172 Big Joe’s Attitude Control .....................................................................173 Lewis Learns To Launch ........................................................................178 The Infamous Multi-Axis Space Test Inertia Facility (MASTIF) ...........181 Photo Essay 4: The Mercury 7 Come to Town ....................................185 Verifying the Retrorockets .....................................................................189 Escape Tower Tests ...............................................................................192 The Altitude Wind Tunnel Completes Another Mission .....................194 Endnotes for Chapter 7 ..........................................................................194 Chapter 8 Metamorphosis: Wind Tunnel to Vacuum Chamber (1961−1963) ..............197 Age of the Space Tank ..........................................................................198 Reconfiguring a Giant for the Space Age.............................................202 Contractors Get a Bad Name ................................................................204 Photo Essay 5: The Altitude Wind Tunnel Is Transformed into the Space Power Chambers ..............................................................206 Pulling Centaur from the Wreckage .....................................................211 Accommodating Centaur.......................................................................214 Centaur Comes to Cleveland ................................................................216 Endnotes for Chapter 8 ..........................................................................218 Chapter 9 Space Power Chambers Join the Fray: Early Centaur Period (1963−1964) ...................................................................................................221 Lewis Takes Control ..............................................................................222 Extreme Diligence .................................................................................223