Comparison of nonequilibrium viscous-shock-layer solutions with shuttle heating measurement

A three-dimensional viscous-shock-layer code has been modified and used to compute the nonequilibrium flowfield over the windward surface of the Space Shuttle Orbiter for re-entry conditions between 75 and 60 km. Centerline heating predictions obtained with the modified code using a recent expression for oxygen recombination at the Shuttle surface were found to be in good agreement with flight data from STS-2 and STS-3. The centerline predictions also show a roughly 30% decrease in heat transfer in comparison with previous results and are now in agreement with two-dimensional viscous-shock-layer results. Comparisons of heating predictions on the off-centerline windward surface were in good agreement with the data flight, and the calculated results followed measured trends in the crossflow heating distributions.