AEROTHERMODYNAMIC RADIATION STUDIES (PC-057)

THE ABILITY TO ACCURATELY PREDICT RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER FROM THE NON-EQUILIBRIUM BOW SHOCK OF VEHICLES OPERATING AT HYPERSONIC VELOCITIES AND ELEVATED ALTITUDES IS CRITICAL TO THE DESIGN OF LARGE NASA VEHICLES SUCH AS THE AERO-ASSIST ORBITAL TRANSFER VEHICLE. THE EXTANT DATA BASE IS INSUFFICIENT TO VALIDATE MODELS USED FOR THIS PURPOSE. WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM A SHOCK TUBE STUDY USING NOVEL EMISSIVE AND ABSORPTIVE DIAGNOSTICS TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE TEMPORALLY AND SPECTRALLY RESOLVED SIGNATURE DATA BASE FOR THIS PURPOSE AND TO ANALYZE THE SAME TO DEDUCE THE ROTATIONAL, VIBRATIONAL, AND ELECTRONIC STATE POPULATION HISTORIES OF N2, N2+, AND CN. THIS DATA BASE WILL BE CRITICAL FOR UPGRADING AND VALIDATING THE NASA MODEL FOR RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER PREDICTION.