Page 136 - MY STORY

deeper than I had ever had a need to, just to teach the

technology effectively. It was a growing and learning
experience for the both of us.

ONE EXPERT OPINION TRUMPS 100 TEST RESULTS AT A
COST

We had a major R&D program from the USAF to develop
improved thermal protection materials for ballistic

reentry systems. One of the major tasks was to evaluate
improved reentry vehicle nose tips which had to
withstand the brunt of reentry heating at several thousand

degrees Fahrenheit without excessive erosion,
non-uniform ablation and severe thermally induced stress
while maintaining its aerodynamic shape in order to

achieve the desired delivery accuracy. The nose tip
material was usually some form of graphite, and we were
evaluating a newer high strength version of that material.

Mechanical properties testing of these very brittle
materials required significant care in setting up the
precise alignment between the test fixtures and specimen

to minimize (or eliminate) any induced bending stresses
which would contaminate the results and induce data
scatter superimposed over the normal data scatter from

the material itself.