HyCUBE: A Reconfigurable CubeSat Like Platform for Hypersonic Flight Testing
Abstract
A revolutionary test and evaluation (TandE) method for conducting hypersonic flight tests that will greatly improve our understanding of high speed aerodynamics is proposed. From 2008 to 2016, the number of CubeSats (miniature, low cost satellites) launched increased by 750%. Given that many CubeSats reenter the atmosphere each year, they represent an ideal platform for collecting hypersonic flight test data which is currently difficult and expensive to obtain. The proposed work aims to design, build and flight test a prototype of a Hypersonic Configurable Unit Ballistic Experiment (HyCUBE)—a CubeSat like vehicle that is deliberately de orbited to record hypersonic flight data during re entry into the atmosphere and transmit the data to the ground before burn up. HyCUBE promises to provide new ways of probing hypersonic flow conditions at high Mach numbers (M = 5 to 20) and over a large range of altitudes (50 100 km). It will provide a flexible and cost effective way of conducting a large and statistically significant number of flight tests at the same time or in close succession. A single HyCUBE or a heterogeneously instrumented swarm have the potential to advance the science of hypersonic aerodynamics in multiple ways including: Characterization of temperature, surface pressure, radiative heating, and plasma concentration along the vehicle flight path; testing of material heating and ablation; surface catalysis; effectiveness of control surfaces as well as hypersonic navigation and control strategies; non equilibrium gas effects; radio blackout; and other novel measurement strategies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 14, 2022
- Source ID
- FA95501910308
Entities
People
- Demoz Gebre Egziabher
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Regents of the University of Minnesota
- United States Air Force