Rebecca Flowers Farr

I am currently employed by NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville Alabama, Engineering Directorate, Vehicle System Design and Analysis Division.  My job entails working with many diverse groups and entities in order to achieve systems integration and assured functionality at the integrated launch vehicle level. 

A patent application for “Method and System for Control of Upstream Flowfields of Vehicle in Supersonic or Hypersonic Atmospheric Flight” was filed with the United States Patent and Trademarks Office in September 2009.  A counter-flowing, supersonic cold gas jet on the face of a vehicle, ejecting into the oncoming freestream, increases supersonic shock standoff distance and weakens the aerodynamic bow shock, significantly reducing wave and skin friction drag and aerothermal loads on the vehicle body. Heat transfer data from windtunnel tests have also shown significant reduction in heat flux on the leading edge of the test body at supersonic Mach numbers.  This innovation could significantly impact thermal protection system requirements and designs for supersonic and hypersonic vehicles.   This work was done by Rebecca Farr (MU Class of 1980, BS Physics), Dr. Endwell Daso, Victor Pritchett, and Dr. Ten-See Wang of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.  POC: Sammy Nabors, NASA MSFC Commercialization Assistance Lead, sammy.a.nabors@nasa.gov. Please refer to MFS-32604-1.

The picture shows me talking to Konrad Dannenerg in 2004 about the Goddard rocket.  Dr. Dannenberg is one of the last remaining original German rocket scientists, who came to the country with Wernher Von Braun in 1945.  Rebecca Flowers Farr, BS Physics, BA German, 1980.