HIGH FRAME RATE, IMAGING SPECTROMETER FOR ROCKET PLUME DIAGNOSTICS

THIS HIGH-FRAME-RATE, IMAGING SPECTROMETER WILL MEASURE THE TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE GASES IN A ROCKET PLUME. AN INNOVATIVE, HIGH-THROUGHPUT, HOLOGRAPHIC-GRATING SPECTROMETER THAT IMAGES ONE SPATIAL LINE AND DISPERSES THE SPECTRA IN A SECOND DIMENSION ACROSS A TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING ARRAY WILL BE DEVELOPED. HIGH-FRAME-RATE IMAGERS FOR THE 0.4 TO 1.1MUM WAVELENGTH RANGE AND FOR THE 1.1 TO 2.2MUM RANGE ARE PROPOSED. THE EXTENSION OF THIS SPECTRAL RANGE TO 0.3-1.1MUM WILL BE CONSIDERED. THIS BROADBAND COVERAGE ALLOWS MEASUREMENT OF THE PLUME TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. MULTISPECTRAL LINE IMAGES CAN BE OBTAINED AT A RATE OF 24,000 PER SECOND IN THE UV AND NEAR-IR, AND UP TO 1,000 PER SECOND IN THE THERMAL IR. A ROTATING MIRROR CAN FRAME THE LINE IMAGES INTO TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES AT A SLOWER FRAME RATE. HIGH-SPEED PROCESSORS AND DATA RECORDERS WILL BE USED TO PROCESS AND STORE DATA FOR POST-TEST ANALYSIS. THE IMAGING SPECTROMETER WILL PERMIT NASA TO OBTAIN DATA ON THE TRANSIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMBUSTION PROCESSESTHAT CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE EXHAUST PLUME. THE HIGH COST OFTEST ARTICLES FOR ROCKET-ENGINE TESTS REQUIRES THE ACCUMULATION OF THE MOST COMPLETE DIAGNOSTIC DATA POSSIBLE. THIS HIGH-FRAME-RATE, IMAGING SPECTROMETER WILL MEASURE THE TRANSIENT TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE GASES IN A ROCKET PLUME. AN INNOVATIVE, HIGH-THROUGHPUT, HOLOGRAPHIC-GRATING SPECTROMETER THAT IMAGES ONE SPATIAL LINE AND DISPERSES THE SPECTRA IN A SECOND DIMENSION ACROSS A TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGING ARRAY WILL BE DEVELOPED. HIGH-FRAME-RATE IMAGERS FOR THE 0.4 TO 1.1MUM WAVELENGTH RANGE AND FOR THE 1.1 TO 2.2MUM RANGE ARE PROPOSED. THE EXTENSION OF THIS SPECTRAL RANGE TO 0.3-1.1MUM WILL BE CONSIDERED. THIS BROADBAND COVERAGE ALLOWS MEASUREMENT OF THE PLUME TEMPERATURE AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. MULTISPECTRAL LINE IMAGES CAN BE OBTAINED AT A RATE OF 24,000 PER SECOND IN THE UV AND NEAR-IR, AND UP TO 1,000 PER SECOND IN THE THERMAL IR. A ROTATING MIRROR CAN FRAME THE LINE IMAGES INTO TWO-DIMENSIONAL IMAGES AT A SLOWER FRAME RATE. HIGH-SPEED PROCESSORS AND DATA RECORDERS WILL BE USED TO PROCESS AND STORE DATA FOR POST-TEST ANALYSIS. THE IMAGING SPECTROMETER WILL PERMIT NASA TO OBTAIN DATA ON THE TRANSIENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COMBUSTION PROCESSESTHAT CAN BE OBSERVED IN THE EXHAUST PLUME. THE HIGH COST OFTEST ARTICLES FOR ROCKET-ENGINE TESTS REQUIRES THE ACCUMULATION OF THE MOST COMPLETE DIAGNOSTIC DATA POSSIBLE.