Post-Flight Analysis of the Diode-Laser-Based Mass Capture Experiment Onboard HIFiRE Flight 1

In March of 2010, HIFiRE Flight 1 was successfully launched following a trajectory and flight plan very close to design. An important aspect of this flight was the integration of scientific instrumentation in the payload primarily designed for boundary layer transition studies and shock-wave-boundary-layer-interaction studies. The payload also included a secondary instrumentation package designed to test the viability of diode-laser-based sensors on hypersonic flight vehicles. In close collaboration with the AFRL and DSTO-led flight team, two independent industrial partners developed diode-laser-based flight packages for the payload. One employed direct-scan spectroscopy and the other wavelength-modulation spectroscopy. They were designed to tune across a single oxygen absorption feature near 761 nm. Both functioned as designed during flight demonstrating successful application of diodelaser-based absorption spectroscopy in hypersonic flight vehicles. The in-flight functionality of the two units will be summarized and flight data will be presented in the context of an ongoing CFD study of the flow around the vehicle.

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