HERMES: Hypersonic Testing in Australia

The European Space Agency is developing the next generation ground to low earth orbit HERMES spaceplane. It is the essential element in Europe's bid to establish an autonomous presence in space by developing the COLUMBUS Space Station. It will be lifted to LEO by ARIANNE 5 and re-enter the atmosphere at speeds in excess of 8kmlsec. The prime contractor for the aerodynamics development of the vehicles is Avions Marcel Dassault. AMD has contracted British Aerospace Australia to ground test HERMES in Australia's shock tunnels at the Australian National University and the University of Queensland. High enthalpy test conditions simulated re-entry in real gas. Luminosity shots and interferograms were taken during tests. Heat transfer and pressure data were accumulated to validate computational fluid dynamics development in France. AMD were provided with a unique opportunity to study real gas affects under hypervelocity condition as the HERMES spaceplane underwent real gas simulation of the re-entry phase of flight.