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\u201cOne thing I\u2019ve noticed from hypersonics that we don\u2019t see from other customers is the type of sensors they use \u2014 a lot of heat flux sensors,\u201d Quinn says.<\/p>\n
As well as extreme thermal, mechanical, and chemical environments, the equipment needs to stand up to shock waves. With those come scalding heat, which furthermore can lead to chemical reactions such as ionizing molecules \u2014 a factor in radio blackouts. Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions details some of these challenges in the white paper \u201cFlight Test Instrumentation Solutions for Hypersonic Vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n
A brief history of hypersonic flight <\/b><\/p>\n
Curtiss-Wright experts also knew to draw from components that had already been tested in the environment conditions they would face \u2014 in this case, their own data acquisition units. Some of this type of equipment has been around for decades. After all, hypersonic flight was first achieved in 1949.<\/p>\n
At that time, the first man-made object to travel at these speeds was a multi-stage missile. The WAC Corporal rocket, mounted on top of a German V-2 rocket, reached five times the speed of sound. Not long before that, legendary American test pilot Chuck Yeager had become the first person to break the sound barrier, piloting a Bell X-1 rocket plane in the fall of 1947.<\/p>\n
While hypersonic flight may sound exotic, Curtiss-Wright\u2019s Cook and Quinn say that some of the electronics packaging hardware on the inside is fairly traditional, even though the size on the outside has changed as vehicles become smaller in diameter. While there are few constraints on hardware, that\u2019s not the case for power consumption; flight time makes power draw on the battery variable.<\/p>\n
That small size does mean companies are drawing from commercial technology makers, who have had plenty of practice over the last decade shrinking the size of electronics components.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the vehicles are smaller in diameter, which drives: How do we make things smaller?\u201d Curtiss-Wright\u2019s Cook points out. \u201cWe all have cell phones. It took the commercial industry all that money to make them smaller, to make chips to make the boards smaller, the subsystems are much smaller. We\u2019re using the commercial technology \u2014 which has gotten very small because of the cell phone industry \u2014 in our military application to make our hardware smaller and the vehicles smaller. Everyone benefits from that. That is the trend today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today and into the future <\/b><\/p>\n
Since those first flights, understanding of the conditions beyond Mach 5 has improved. there is no dramatic visible change in the color of the air or a sound effect between Mach 4.99 and 5.01, as there is with a sonic boom at Mach 1, point out experts at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Instead, the important factor is the intensity of the physical phenomenon experienced at speeds beyond Mach 5.<\/p>\n
Ruggedizing components sufficiently to operate through these speeds could include changing their internal heating and dissipating heat, which can be difficult. Testing a vehicle or weapon expected to travel at hypersonic speeds can be difficult and expensive. In a white paper on flight test instrumentation for hypersonic vehicles, the Curtiss-Wright authors note that \u201cIf the acquisition chassis malfunctions during flight, then the test points will need to be re-flown. This incurs a large expense, especially if the test article is unrecoverable, as is often the case for ordnance testing.\u201d<\/p>\n