Abstract : A laser propelled Lightcraft vehicle has been successfully flown in a series of experiments conducted at the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF), White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), NM. The flight tests, conducted under a joint USAF/NASA flight demonstration program, used a single optimized geometry scaled over a range of sizes designed to fly on the 10 kW Pulsed Laser Vulnerability Test System (PLVTS) pulsed carbon dioxide laser. The axisymmetric Lightcraft vehicles were propelled by airbreathing, pulsed-detonation engines with an infinite fuel specific impulse. Schlieren and shadowgraph pictures were taken as a function of time, and laser beam propagation studies were conducted with different focal length telescopes. Spin-stabilized free-flight launches outside the laboratory have been accomplished to altitudes approaching 30 m (100 ft).
[1]
James L. Garrison,et al.
Apollo Lightcraft Project
,
1987
.
[2]
V. I. Konov,et al.
Experimental and theoretical modeling of laser propulsion
,
1980
.
[3]
H. T. Nagamatsu,et al.
Experimental investigation of a unique airbreathing pulsed laser propulsion concept
,
1991
.
[4]
A. Pirri,et al.
Propulsion by Absorption of Laser Radiation
,
1974
.
[5]
Anthony N. Pirri,et al.
Pulsed laser propulsion
,
1981
.
[6]
G. Simons,et al.
The Fluid Mechanics of Pulsed Laser Propulsion
,
1976
.