Task order - statement of work (SOW) task title: boeing lcat ARC jet test in support of flexible TPS evaluation and development 1.0 introduction / background: the hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic…

Task order - statement of work (SOW) task title: boeing lcat ARC jet test in support of flexible TPS evaluation and development 1.0 introduction / background: the hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (hiad) project is a technology development effort investigating the viability and survivability of inflatable aerodynamic decelerators at flight relevant environments for application to future planetary entry spacecraft. In order to evaluate a flexible thermal protection systems (ftps), which is the heat shield for the hiad, the ftps must be subjected to flight-relevant heating, pressures, and shearing environments experienced during reentry, and show margined performance and survival. In support of the hiad projects flexible systems technical development area, the NASA langley research center (larc) engineering group is modeling, testing, and verifying modeling of ftps layups in flight relevant reactive flow environments in order to establish a modeling paradigm and a more effective margin policy for inflatable and rigid reentry systems. Specific NASA provided specimens, (made up of various layup combinations of advanced flexible materials) are modeled and tested in flight relevant conditions for model verification and margin maturation. This effort builds upon testing already conducted at the lcat under boeings smaaart contract NNL10AA05B, task order NNL11AD16T, entitled boeing lcat ARC-jet test in support of flexible TPS evaluation and development. Under NNL11AD16T, hundreds of ftps samples have been evaluated at several conditions of development interest, establishing a basis for the critical advancement of the successful flight of the inflatable reentry vehicle experiment (irve)-3 in july 2012 and advancing the development of the next generation of ftps. The testing described by this SOW will continue this crucial advancement by building upon the database of results already obtained. Further testing is needed to compare more advanced materials and layups with previously tested coupons and to extend the heat flux and pressure test range, simulating harsher atmospheric reentry flight environments. 2.0 scope & objective(s): the scope of this task order is to evaluate ftps layups and materials at comparable or harsher simulated atmospheric reentry flight conditions and rigid deployable TPS layups and materials at much harsher simulated atmospheric reentry flight conditions. Ftps materials and systems will be tested utilizing the lcat facility for 12 weeks of total test time at four specific test conditions which simulate relevant test environments. The first two test conditions, given in objectives 1 and 2 below, were developed under task order NNL11AD16T. New materials and systems will be compared at these conditions. The remaining two test conditions are new test requirements outlined in objectives 3 and 4 below to extend the range of the current materials and systems data base. The objectives for this task order are as follows: objective one: evaluation of ftps layups and materials at flight-like conditions simulating a heat flux entry condition (square pulse or mission profile in stagnation or shear) of