LASRE is This article needs cleanup. Please edit this article to conform to a higher standard of article quality. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) (established 1958) is the government agency responsible for the United States of Americas space program and long-term general aerospace research. A civilian organization, it... NASA's Linear Aerospike SR-71 Experiment which took place at the NASAs Dryden Flight Research Center, in Edwards, California, was named in honor of the late Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, one of Americas most prominent aeronautical engineers, on Mar. 26, 1976. At the time of his death in 1965, he was NASAs deputy administrator. The Center is NASA... Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base is a base located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, northeast of Lancaster. It was home to many of the 20th centurys most important and daring research flights and many of the worlds bravest and... Edwards Air Force Base, State nickname: The Golden State Other U.S. States Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Official languages English Area 410,000 km² (3rd)  - Land 404,298 km²  - Water 20,047 km² (4.7%) Population ( 2000)  - Population 33,871,648... California and concluded November 1998. The experiment's goal was to provide in-flight data to help Lockheed/BAE/Northrop F-35 Lockheed Trident missile C-130 Hercules; in production since the 1950s, now as the C-130J Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland and employs 130... Lockheed Martin validate the computational predictive tools they are using to determine the Aerodynamics is a branch of fluid dynamics concerned with the study of gas flows, first analysed by George Cayley in the 1800s. The solution of an aerodynamic problem normally involves calculating for various properties of the flow, such as velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as a function of space... aerodynamic performance of a future potential A reusable launch system (or RLV: reusable launch vehicle) is a launch vehicle which is capable of launching into space more than once. This is in opposition to an expendable launch system, where each launch vehicle is launched once and then discarded. No true orbital reusable launch system exists as... reusable launch vehicle. Information from the LASRE experiment helped Lockheed Martin maximize its design for a future potential reusable launch vehicle. It gave Lockheed an understanding the performance of the X-33 lifting body and linear aerospike engine combination.

LASRE was a small, half-span model of a lifting body with eight thrust cells of an This article is on the engine technology, unrelated to the frontally mounted drag reduction aerospike as fitted to the Trident missile. The aerospike is a type of rocket nozzle that, unlike traditional designs, maintains its efficiency across a wide range of altitudes. For this reason it is sometimes referred to... aerospike engine. The experiment, mounted on the back of an The Lockheed SR-71, unofficially known as the Blackbird, is a long-range, advanced, strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Lockheed A-12 and YF-12A aircraft by Lockheeds Skunk works, which was also responsible for the U-2 and many other advanced aircraft. In particular, the legendary Kelly... SR-71 Blackbird aircraft, operated like a kind of "flying A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects. Air is blown or sucked through a duct equipped with a viewing port and instrumentation where models or geometrical shapes are mounted for study. Various techniques are then... wind tunnel." The experiment focused on determining how a reusable launch vehicle's engine plume would affect the aerodynamics of its lifting body shape at specific altitudes and speeds reaching approximately 750 miles per hour (335 meters per second). The interaction of the aerodynamic flow with the engine plume could create drag; design refinements look to minimize that interaction.

During the flight research program, the aircraft completed seven research flights. Two initial flights were used to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the LASRE apparatus on the back of the aircraft. The first of those two flights occurred October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining, as the final day of October. Events 475 - Romulus Augustus was proclaimed Roman Emperor. 1517 - Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther posts his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg... October 31, 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Reef. Events January January 3 - NBCs Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 - Mister Rogers receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame... 1997. The SR-71 took off at 8:31 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.2 and a maximum altitude of 33,000 feet (10,000 m) before landing at Edwards at 10:21 a.m. PST, successfully validating the SR-71/pod configuration.

Five follow-on flights focused on the experiment; two were used to cycle gaseous helium and liquid nitrogen through the experiment to check its plumbing system for leaks and to check engine operation characteristics. The first of these flights occurred March 4 is the 63rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (64th in leap years). There are 302 days remaining. The United States Constitution originally provided that the President of the United States was to be inaugurated on this date, starting in 1793 and the repeating every four... March 4, 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. Events January January 1998 - A massive ice storm, caused by El Niño, strikes New England, southern Ontario and Quebec, resulting in widespread power failures, severe damage to... 1998. The SR-71 took off at 10:16 a.m. PST. The aircraft flew for one hour and fifty-seven minutes, reaching a maximum speed of Mach 1.58 before landing at Edwards at 12:13 p.m. PST.

During three more flights in the spring and summer of 1998, liquid oxygen was cycled through the engine. In addition, two engine hot firings were conducted on the ground. It was decided not to do a final hot-fire flight test due to the liquid oxygen leaks in the test apparatus. The ground firings and the airborne cryogenic gas flow tests provided enough information to predict the hot gas effects of an aerospike engine firing during flight.

External Links

• Image gallery
  • photographs  (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/SR-71-LASRE/index.html)
  • movies  (http://www1.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Movie/LASRE/index.html)