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To improve acoustical models of super heavy-lift launch vehicles, this Letter reports Space Launch System's (SLS's) overall sound power level (OAPWL) and compares it to NASA's past lunar rocket, the Saturn V. Measurements made 1.4–1.8 km from the launchpad indicate that SLS produced an OAPWL of 202.4 (±0.5) dB re 1 pW and acoustic efficiency of about 0.33%. Adjustment of a static-fire sound power spectrum for launch conditions implies Saturn V was at least 2 dB louder than SLS with approximately twice the acoustic efficiency.
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Aeroacoustic Analysis of NASA’s Space Launch System Artemis-I Mission
As the frequency of rocket launches increases, accurately predicting their noise is necessary to assess structural, environmental, and societal impacts. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is a challenging vehicle to model because it has both solid-fuel rocket boosters and liquid-fueled engines that contribute to its thrust at launch. This paper discusses measured aeroacoustic properties of this super heavy-lift rocket in the context of supersonic jet theory and measurements of other rockets. Using four measured aeroacoustic properties: directivity, spectral peak frequency, maximum overall sound pressure level, and overall sound power level, an equivalent rocket based on merged plumes is created for SLS. With the constraint that the effective thrust and mass flow rates should match those of the actual vehicle, a method using weighted averages of the disparate plume parameters successfully reproduces SLS’s desired aeroacoustic properties, yielding a relatively simple model for the complex vehicle.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2109932
- PAR ID:
- 10585019
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Date Published:
- ISSN:
- 1533-385X
- ISBN:
- 978-1-62410-720-7
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Rome, Italy
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2024-3033
