SPACE FLIGHT GAS TEMPERATURE PROBE

THE CURRENT SPACE SHUTTLE GAS TEMPERATURE PROBE DESIGNS HAVE NOT PROVIDED ADEQUATE DATA FOR EVALUATION OF THE BASE HEATING PROCESS DURING THE ASCENT FLIGHT STAGES IN WHICH HEATING IS MOST SEVERE. THESE DESIGNS HAVE INADEQUATE THERMAL RESPONSIVENESS AS WELL AS INSUFFICIENT ACCOUNTABILITY FOR GAGE THERMAL INPUTS FROM THE RADIATION, CONVECTION AND CONDUCTION ENVIRONMENTS. AN ANALYTICAL APPROACH IS PRESENTED WITH THE OBJECTIVE OF DEFINING AN OPTIMAL PROBE CONFIGURATION BASED ON PARAMETRIC CALCULATIONS OF THE PROBE RESPONSES WHICH ARE MOST LIKELY TO MEET THE DESIGN REQUIREMENTS. EXISTING THERMAL PROBE MODELS WILL BE MODIFIED TO ALLOW THE REQUIRED CALCULATIONS. USING THE AVAILABLE SPACE SHUTTLE BASE HEATING FLIGHT DATA, CALCULATIONS OF THE THERMAL RESPONSE AND ACCURACY OF A GIVEN PROBE DESIGN WILL BE MADE AND COMPARED TO SIMILAR CALCULATIONS WITH DIFFERENT PROBE CONFIGURATIONS. PREVIOUS WORK WITH GAS PROBES UTILIZED ON SPACE SHUTTLE MODEL TESTS HAVE INDICATED THAT A MULTIPLE SENSOR (2 OR MORE) PROBE HAS DISTINCT ACCURACY ADVANTAGES OVER SINGLE SENSOR DESIGNS. THE PARAMETRIC EVALUATIONS WILL CONCENTRATE ON A MULTI-PROBE DESIGN. SECOND PHASE EFFORTS WOULD INCLUDE FINALIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION DRAWINGS, CONSTRUCTION OF A TEST PROBE, CONDUCTING LABORATORY TESTS, AND CONSTRUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF ONE OR MORE FLIGHT PROBES.