WATER IMPACT EXPERIMENTS ON A SCALED IXV MODEL

The results of an experimental campaign of the splashdown of the ESA IXV aimed at supporting the numerical simulations of the problem are presented here. Tests were done at different attitudes with and without wind effects. Measurements involved accelerations and angular velocities obtained from an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), pressures and dynamic accelerations. The loads acting on the flaps were also measured through the instrumentation of the body flap connection elements. All signals were transmitted via a Bluetooth connection, thus avoiding the spurious effects of umbilical cables. Measurements were supported by 100 Hz videos of the entry process. Attention is here focused on the description of the experimental setup and on the discussion of some of the most relevant results obtained in terms of the rigid body motion and forces acting on the flaps.