Hypersonic wind tunnel
With its hypersonic wind tunnel and advanced laser diagnostic technology, Sandia is in an excellent position to help U.S. defense agencies understand the physics associated with aircraft flying five times the speed of sound.
“The physics are enormously difficult at hypersonic speed,” said Sandia aerospace engineer Steven Beresh. The air and gases react differently than at subsonic speed; materials are put under extreme temperatures and pressure; and there is the added challenge of guidance mechanisms also needing to withstand those pressures.
“We have some information, but not enough information,” he said. “We’ve mostly been dealing with re-entry vehicles. Before, the idea was to just have the vehicle survive; now, it needs to thrive. We’re trying to fly through it.”
Learn more about these capabilities at share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/hyperson...
Photo by Randy Montoya.
Hypersonic wind tunnel
With its hypersonic wind tunnel and advanced laser diagnostic technology, Sandia is in an excellent position to help U.S. defense agencies understand the physics associated with aircraft flying five times the speed of sound.
“The physics are enormously difficult at hypersonic speed,” said Sandia aerospace engineer Steven Beresh. The air and gases react differently than at subsonic speed; materials are put under extreme temperatures and pressure; and there is the added challenge of guidance mechanisms also needing to withstand those pressures.
“We have some information, but not enough information,” he said. “We’ve mostly been dealing with re-entry vehicles. Before, the idea was to just have the vehicle survive; now, it needs to thrive. We’re trying to fly through it.”
Learn more about these capabilities at share-ng.sandia.gov/news/resources/news_releases/hyperson...
Photo by Randy Montoya.