Nose first reentry on winged vehicles

Could anyone point me in the direction of any research that has been done on
nose first reentry vehicles? I've been thinking about the idea of a lifting
body vehicle with a protruding blunt nose which would generate a large
shockwave, and protect the rest of the vehicle from the major heat of
reentry, provided the wings were short enough not to intersect the
shockwave. Anyone know of any vehicle designs like this? Thanks,

David

Yes, indeed. In the 1960s there was a USAF program called ASSET
(Aerothermodynamic/Elastic Structural Systems Environmental Test). Modified
Douglas Thor and Thor-Delta boosters were used to launch small hypersonic
glide vehicles on ballistic trajectories. The heavily instrumented ASSET
vehicles provided information on aerodynamic forces and heating, hypersonic
lift-to-drag, materials performance, and vehicle maneuverability. ASSET
would obtain much of the information expected from the much larger
Dyna-Soar/X-20 vehicle in the unmanned suborbital flight phase (Dyna-Soar
was cancelled in December 1963 without making a single flight).

There were actually two types of ASSET vehicles, both built by McDonnell
Aircraft): the Aerothermodynamic Structural Vehicle (ASV) and the
Aerothermoelastic Vehicle (AEV). Both types had a 70-degree delta wing with
a 10-degree upward tilt. They were pretty tiny (5-6 ft length and wing span)
and weighed only about 1100 pounds. There were four ASV flights and two AEV
flights. ASV-3 was recovered from the Pacific Ocean and was in pretty good
condition.

Your idea sounds more like a military MaRV (Maneuvering Reentry Vehicle).
There is info on the Web about these things, but the nitty-gritty remains
classified.

Later
Ray Schmitt




"David Findlay" wrote in message
...
Could anyone point me in the direction of any research that has been done
on
nose first reentry vehicles? I've been thinking about the idea of a
lifting
body vehicle with a protruding blunt nose which would generate a large
shockwave, and protect the rest of the vehicle from the major heat of
reentry, provided the wings were short enough not to intersect the
shockwave. Anyone know of any vehicle designs like this? Thanks,

David

"Ray Schmitt" writes:

There were actually two types of ASSET vehicles, both built by McDonnell
Aircraft): the Aerothermodynamic Structural Vehicle (ASV) and the
Aerothermoelastic Vehicle (AEV). Both types had a 70-degree delta wing with
a 10-degree upward tilt. They were pretty tiny (5-6 ft length and wing span)
and weighed only about 1100 pounds. There were four ASV flights and two AEV
flights. ASV-3 was recovered from the Pacific Ocean and was in pretty good
condition.

It's at the USAF museum near KSC, mounted on a stand in the rocket park. You
can put your hand on it, and it's made of a really strange ceramic. I'd seen
pictures of the launch and it was so tiny that I thought it was a model and
not the real thing at first.

-gc

--
Old aunts used to come up to me at weddings, poking me in the ribs and
cackling, telling me, "You're next." They stopped after I started doing
the same thing to them at funerals.