CARRIAGE AND LAUNCH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEGASUS~(~R) AIR-LAUNCHED SPACE BOOSTER

摘要

Pegasus~(~R), the air-launched space booster designed for launch from B-52 and L-1011 aircraft, was developed using computational aerodynamic methods without benefit of specific wind tunnel or flight testing. This paper describes the methods and procedures used for predicting the carriage and launch characteristics of Pegasus from both B-52 and L-1011 aircraft. Flight data from four B-52 launches and L-1011 carriage tests are available to validate the prediction methods.