NNL10AA22C

IRVE-3: NASA LARC, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL AERODYNAMICS PROGRAM HYPERSONICS PROJECT, HAS INITIATED IRVE-3 WHICH WILL BUILD ON BOTH IRVE-II AND ONGOING GROUND-BASED DEVELOPMENTS, WITH A PRIMARY GOAL OF 5X TO 10X HIGHER HEAT FLUX THAN IRVE-II (WHICH WAS 2W/CM2). IRVE-3 WILL BE LAUNCHED ON A BLACK BRANT XI WITH A 22IN (0.55M) SHROUD. THE TARGET BALLISTIC NUMBER OF THE REENTRY VEHICLE (RV) IS DOUBLE THAT OF IRVE-II, SO THE PAYLOAD BEING DECELERATED BY THE AEROSHELL WILL BE ROUGHLY 200KG (441LB), MORE THAN THE MASS ALLOCATED FOR THE AEROSHELL. PRELIMINARY ESTIMATES OF THE PEAK DECELERATION ARE ON THE ORDER OF 25G. USING THE INITIALLY ESTIMATED 25G DECELERATION VALUE AND THE 200KG CENTERBODY MASS ESTIMATE THE PRELIMINARY AEROSHELL/PAYLOAD INTERFACE LOADING IS ESTIMATED TO BE 49KN (11KLBF). COMPONENTS OF THE INFLATABLE AEROSHELL SHALL INCLUDE: INFLATABLE STRUCTURE, THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM, AND RESTRAINT SYSTEM. AFTER INTEGRATION AND SYSTEM TESTING, THE INFLATABLE AEROSHELL WILL BE HARD-PACKED FOR LAUNCH AND REMAIN IN A STOWED CONFIGURATION FOR SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE LAUNCH, INFLATION, AND REENTRY. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DESIGN, FABRICATION, STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS, AND TESTING OF THE INFLATABLE AEROSHELL (BOTH AN ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT AND A FLIGHT AEROSHELL) AS AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM, AS WELL AS INTEGRATION OF THE FLIGHT ARTICLE TO THE REST OF THE INFLATABLE RV AND SUPPORT OF IRVE-3 SYSTEM TESTING. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL DESIGN THE ENGINEERING DEVELOPMENT UNIT AND THE FLIGHT ARTICLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS STATEMENT OF WORK. WHILE SOME ASPECTS OF THIS SOW WILL PRODUCE AN AEROSHELL MORE CAPABLE THAN REQUIRED FOR THE FLIGHT ENVIRONMENT OF THIS PARTICULAR MISSION, THE INTENT IS TO FEED-FORWARD THIS TECHNOLOGY/CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT TO FLIGHT THAT WILL EXPOSE THE COMPONENTS TO MORE SEVERE ENVIRONMENTS.