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NASA and its industry partners are preparing for next year\u2019s Artemis III demonstration mission by completing new wind tunnel tests on SpaceX\u2019s Super Heavy Version 3 rocket booster. The tests, conducted at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, focused on better understanding the extreme aerodynamic forces the rocket can experience during re-entry. The recent test series builds on\u00a0previous testing\u00a0completed at NASA Ames in 2024.<\/p>\n
NASA is working with SpaceX to develop the company\u2019s Starship Human Landing System (HLS) to safely carry astronauts from lunar orbit to the Moon\u2019s surface and back. The upgraded Super Heavy rocket booster is part of SpaceX\u2019s Starship launch system. Version 3 of Starship and Super Heavy is expected to be the basis for the Starship HLS for Artemis III in 2027 and a later crewed lunar landing in 2028.<\/p>\n
Although Starship HLS is a lunar lander designed and built by SpaceX, NASA collaborates with commercial companies to provide access to specialized testing facilities, like the wind tunnels at NASA Ames, and technical expertise, such as the team that set up the wind tunnel testing and helped analyze the results.<\/p>\n
\u201cNASA has a lot of experience with unsteady aerodynamics,\u201d said Manish Mehta, discipline lead engineer for the HLS Plume and Aero Environments team, NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. \u201cWe used the agency\u2019s broad experience base of conducting wind tunnel tests for the space shuttle, the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket, and Orion spacecraft to efficiently set up and analyze the wind tunnel testing for the Super Heavy Version 3. In fact, similar testing at the Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel resulted in\u00a0adding strakes to SLS for Artemis II, so what we learned for Artemis II is helping us get to Artemis III and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n
SpaceX\u2019s Starship consists of a 33-engine first-stage Super Heavy rocket, or booster, and the second-stage Starship. Version 3 of Super Heavy incorporates many new and upgraded systems, including:<\/p>\n
With significant changes to Super Heavy, NASA and SpaceX engineers wanted more information about the steady and unsteady aerodynamic forces the rocket will experience during atmospheric re-entry as it returns to the launch site for refurbishment and re-use.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen a rocket, or an airplane, flies through air at high speed, it\u2019s subjected to steady aerodynamic forces and moments, and unsteady aerodynamic forces and moments,\u201d explained Jayanta Panda, unsteady aerodynamics subject matter expert at NASA Ames and part of the Human Landing System Plume and Aero Environments team. \u201cAn example of a steady aerodynamic force would be when air smoothly flows over the surface of the rocket as it ascends. An unsteady aerodynamic force would be air \u2018buffeting,\u2019 or hitting, certain areas the rocket at less predictable times and potentially causing vibrations.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA and SpaceX used a 1.2% scale model of the Super Heavy Version 3 in the\u00a0transonic wind tunnel\u00a0and the\u00a0supersonic wind tunnel\u00a0at NASA Ames for testing. The transonic tunnel blasts scale models of rockets or aircraft with air at speeds ranging from Mach 0.2 to Mach 1.4 (Mach 1 is the speed of sound, or about 761 miles per hour). The smaller supersonic tunnel fires winds at higher speeds, from Mach 1.55 to Mach 2.5. The wind tunnel tests on Super Heavy Version 3, conducted in late 2025, used both tunnels to measure steady and unsteady air flows on the surfaces of Super Heavy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cResulting wind tunnel data on steady forces and moments helps predict how the rocket will react to forces in the atmosphere during re-entry so the flight software can effectively guide the rocket during flight,\u201d Mehta said. \u201cThe unsteady pressure data helps engineers understand the environment around the rocket as it re-enters Earth\u2019s atmosphere. Engineers use that information as one input into software that analyzes loads on the rocket.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through the Artemis program, NASA is returning humans to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic opportunity, to establish an enduring human presence on the lunar surface, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars \u2013 for the benefit of all.<\/p>\n
To learn more about Artemis, visit:<\/p>\n
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