SPACE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM LAUNCH PAD SUMMER ENVIRONMENTAL-EFFECTS

The external tank (ET) of the space transportation system (STS) contains liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as oxidizer and fuel for the Space Shuttle main engines. This article describes a two-dimensional now and thermal forced convection analysis to determine solar heat effects on the Space Shuttle launch components subsequent to the ET loading operation in extremely hot conditions. An existing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code, parabolic hyperbolic or elliptical numerical integration code series (PHOENICS '81) was used in the study. The analysis was done for a two-dimensional slice between planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the STS and passing through the lower portions of the redesigned solid rocket motors (RSRMs), the ET, and the orbiter wing. The results are presented as local and average values of surface temperatures and Nusselt numbers around the RSRMs and the ET. Solar heating effects increased surface temperatures of the RSRMs by 5-6.1-degrees-C. Comparisons were based on the local Nusselt number at the forward stagnation point and on the average Nusselt number around the West RSRM.