The Cold War and the Space Age

In 1958, NASA was on a firm foundation for hypersonic and space research. Throughout the 1950s, NACA researchers first addressed the challenge of atmospheric reentry with their work on intercontinen­tal ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for the military. The same fundamental design problems existed for ICBMs, spacecraft, interplanetary probes, and hypersonic aircraft. Each of the NASA Centers specialized in a spe­cific aspect of hypersonic and hypervelocity research that resulted from their heritage as NACA laboratories. Langley’s emphasis was in the cre­ation of facilities applicable to hypersonic cruise aircraft and reentry vehicles—including winged reentry. Ames explored the extreme tem­peratures and the design shapes that could withstand them as vehicles

The Cold War and the Space Age

John Becker with his 11-Inch Hypersonic Tunnel of 1947. NASA.

returned to Earth from space. Researchers at Lewis focused on propul­sion systems for these new craft. With the impetus of the space race, each Center worked with a growing collection of hypersonic and hyper­velocity wind tunnels that ranged from conventional aerodynamic facil­ities to radically different configurations such as shock tubes, arc-jets, and new tunnels designed for the evaluation of aerodynamic heating on spacecraft structures.[581]