Inlet Wind Tunnel LAL-57-5017 Photo of actual NASA Inlet Wind Tunnel model tests of the Convair Advanced F-106 to support the Sky Scorcher Missile Project. Convair Advanced F-106 Sky Scorcher NASA Inlet Wind Tunnel Tests from 1957 and 1958 as seen at http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/1251_Models_D-G#F-106_Inlet F-106X in the Unitary and Continuous-Flow Hypersonic [wind] Tunnel (1251), Low Mach 100 Test Section, on November 6, 1956. NASA File:LAL 96527 and LAL 96528.jpg. Photo of actual NASA Wind Tunnel model tests of the Convair Advanced F-106X. Wind Tunnel Tests from 1957 and 1958 as seen at http://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/1251_Models_D-G#F-106_Inlet

The Unitary Plan 4X4 Foot Supersonic Tunnel, approved under the Unitary Plan Act of 1949 and operational since 1955, has two supersonic test sections that accommodate speeds from 1,000 to 3,000 miles per hour (Mach 1.5 to Mach 4.6). Developmental tests of almost every supersonic military aircraft and NASA spacecraft have been made in this tunnel. Typical testing at the facility include force and moment studies, discrete and global surface pressure measurements, and the application of various flow visualization techniques. Additionally, tests involving jet effects, dynamic stability, model deformation, global surface and off-body measurements and heat transfer have been conduced. Extensive experimental work on Space Shuttle was also conducted here, plus development of advanced concepts in supersonic civil and military aircraft. This facility has made critical contributions to the development, assessment, and optimization of advanced aerospace vehicle concepts through its decades of service.

The Mach 6 and 10 Tunnels are a part of the Langley Aerothermodynamics Laboratory. The Mach 10 Tunnel, also known as the Continuous-Flow Hypersonic Tunnel, was completed in 1957. The Hypersonic Flow Apparatus, or Mach 6 Tunnel, was completed two years later. In 1973, the Hypersonic Flow Apparatus housed in building 583 was dismantled and moved to building 1251.

The Mach 10 Tunnel has a 31-in test section with dry air as its medium. Dry air is also used as the test medium for the 15-in test section in the Mach 6 Tunnel. Today, tests ranging from heat-transfer studies to aerodynamics are completed in the tunnels.

The Continuous-Flow Hypersonic Tunnel was used to study problems spacecraft encounter as they leave or enter the atmosphere at very high speeds. The tunnel's equipment processes air to the extremely high pressures and temperatures needed to accelerate air to ten times the speed of sound. The large vacuum spheres were used to start the air flow. The facility contributed to the development of space programs from Apollo to the Space Shuttle.
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