Heat transfer from a simulated shuttle external tank in the naturally turbulent outdoor environment

To estimate the local heat-transfer coefficients around an external-tank (ET) surface, a 9.8-m-high by 8.4-m-diameter ET simulator is constructed, instrumented, and tested in the naturally turbulent outdoor environment. Two different configurations under which the testing is conducted are described. The time-average, local values of Nusselt number at time-average Reynolds numbers of 2.2 x 10 to the 6th, 2.6 x 10 to the 6th, and 4.5 x 10 to the 6th are presented. It is shown that, at the same Reynolds numbers, the heat transfer coefficients due to the atmospheric airflow are higher than those due to airflow in a low-turbulent-intensity wind tunnel.