ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge my wonderful wife Terisa, without whom I would not have the courage and strength to push my way through my graduate studies. Her love and support have carried me through the best and worst of times. I must also recognize my mother and father, Kenneth and Lavonda Lang, who brought me into this world and gave me the love and encouragement to pursue my dreams of joining the aerospace community. I also want to thank my sister, Nikki, for loving me even when we were mad at one another. Without these people, I wouldn’t have been able to even begin such an undertaking as graduate school.

I would like to acknowledge the individuals who were so beneficial in my efforts to undertake this project. Thanks to my professors who have helped me through many quagmires along my journey through school. Thanks to Dr. L. Michael Freeman who has been a leader, a teacher, an advisor, and a friend throughout this project. Thanks also to Dr. Charles Karr who has pushed, pulled, and dragged me through the wonderful world of genetic algorithms. Thanks also to Dr. Kevin Whitaker and Dr. Gerald Micklow for their assistance in all questions related to aerodynamics, propulsion, and fluid dynamics.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center without which I could not have worked on this project. Thanks in particular to Mr. Charles Cornelius, who has allowed me to work along with the engineers in his division of the Propulsion Lab at MSFC. Thanks also to Mr. Richard Counts who sat through many a conversation answering question after question concerning rocket propulsion. Finally, thanks to Warren Peters, an outstanding engineer at MSFC’s Propulsion Lab, who helped me in almost every phase of this project.

REFERENCES

1  Kelley, J.B. and L’Ecuyer, M.R. (1966). Transpiration cooling - Its theory and application: Technical Memorandum. Lafayette, IN: Purdue Research Foundation.

2  Rannie, W. D. (1947) A simplified theory of porous wall cooling. Progress Report No. 4-50. Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Pasadena, California: California Institute of Technology.

3  Rubesin, M. W. (December, 1954) An analytical estimation of the effect of transpiration cooling on the heat transfer and skin friction characteristics of a compressible, turbulent boundary layer. NACA Tn 3341.

4  Caras, Gus J. and Terry, John E. (1966). Transpiration and film cooling of liquid rocket nozzles. Huntsville, AL: Redstone Research and Development Directorate.

5  Hoffman, Joe D. and Kacynski, Kenneth J. (1994). The prediction of nozzle performance and heat transfer in hydrogen/oxygen rocket engines with transpiration cooling, film cooling, and high area ratios. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

6  Hendricks, Dr. John B. (1996). An innovative concept for cooling liquid propellant rocket combustion chambers: Final Technical Report. Huntsville, AL: Alabama Cryogenic Engineering, Inc.

7  Lewis Research Center. ODE code. Public Domain Software.

8  Goldberg, David E (1989). Genetic algorithms in search, optimization, and machine learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing.