AIAA-83-0410

Radiation Enhancement by mequilibrium

in Earth’s Atmosphere
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES on July 30, 2015 | http://arc.aiaa.org | DOI: 10.2514/6.1983-410

C. Park, NASA Ames Research Center,

Moffett Field, GA

AIAA 21st Aerospace Sciences Meeting

4 January 10-13, 1983/Reno, Nevada

For permission to copy or republish, contact the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104
 RADIATION ENHANCEMENT BY NONEQUILIBRIUM I N EARTH'S AW3SPqERE
Chul Park*
NASA Ames Kesearch C e n t e r , M o f f e t t F i e l d , C a l i f o r n i a
v
Abs t r a c t
The s t a t u s of k n m l e d g e of s h o c k - l a y e r r a d i a -
t i o n i n t h e l o w - d e n s i t y , n a n e q u i l i b r i u m regime, as
a p p r o p r i a t e t o t h e f l i g h t of t h e proposed aero-
a s s i s t e d o r b i t a l t r a n s f e r v e h i c l e , i s surveyed.
The e x i s t i n g l a b o r a t o r y d a t a and t h e f l i g h t d a t a
from A p a l l o and Fire are s c r u t i n i z e d . Nonequilib-
rium r a d i a t i o n is found t o b e s i g n i f i c a n t i n t h e
f l i g h t regime of t h e v e h i c l e , b u t a f a c t o r of 3
u n c e r t a i n t y i s found i n i t s magnitude. The avail-
a b l e t h e o r e t i c a l models a r e reviewed, t h e i r weak-
nesses a r e p o i n t e d o u t . a computer code t h a t
a p p r o x i m a t e l y r e p r o d u c e s t h e e x i s t i n g d a t a is i n t r o -
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duced, and recommendations are made f o r f u t u r e
research.
Introduction
With t h e a d v e n t of t h e Space S h u t t l e , t h e
f r o n t i e r i n space h a s moved one s t e p outward. A
b u l k of t h e f u t u r e s p a c e a c t i v i t y is expected t o
t a k e p l a c e i n t h e near-Earth o r b i t s . I n t h e f i e l d
of t r a n s p o r t a t i o n s y s t e m s , t h e a c t i v i t y c o u l d
i n v o l v e commuting between various s p a c e s a t e l l i t e s
o r s t a t i o n s . The v e h i c l e proposed f o r such m i s s i o n s
i s r e f e r r e d t o as an o r b i t a l t r a n s f e r v e h i c l e
(OTV).',' The performance of t h e O T V ' s can b e
improved, a t l e a s t t h e o r e t i c a l l y , i f they are
allowed t o f l y t h r o u g h E a r t h ' s atmosphere, and i f
t h e y can d e c e l e r a t e o r maneuver u s i n g aerodynamic
'u f o r c e s . 3 T h i s i d e a l e a d s t o t h e s o - c a l l e d aero-
a s s i s t e d o r b i t a l t r a n s f e r v e h i c l e (AOTV).
Because of i t s i n t r i n s i c r e q u i r e m e n t s and con-
s t r a i n t s , an AOTV must f l y i n t h e h i g h - a l t i t u d e ,
low-density r e g i o n a t a n e a r - e s c a p e v e l o c i t y . I n
s u c h an environment, t h e shock l a y e r around t h e
v e h i c l e is l i k e l y t o produce s i g n i f i c a n t r a d i a -
t i o n , and a h e a t s h i e l d must b e provided t o p r o t e c t
t h e v e h i c l e from i t . T h e r e f o r e , i n o r d e r t o c a r r y
o u t a c o n c e p t u a l d e s i g n of s u c h a v e h i c l e , one must
be a h l e t o c a l c u l a t e t h e r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x e s t o
the vehicle.
During t h e Apollo e r a , t h e problem of r a d i a -
t i o n Was s t u d i e d e x t e n s i v e l y through l a b o r a t o r y and
f l i g h t t e s t s . It was found i n t h e l a b o r a t o r y
s t u d i e s t h a t r a d i a t i o n i s enhanced s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n
t h e low-density regime b e c a u s e of t h e l a c k of chemi-
c a l e q u i l i b r h m . The e x t e n t of r a d i a t i o n e m i s s i o n
found i n t h e s e s t u d i e s is such t h a t i t would be a
s e r i o u s problem i n AOTV o p e r a t i o n s . I n c o n t r a s t ,
t e s t s conducted aboard t h e A p o l l o v e h i c l e s (and t h e
F i r e v e h i c l e s t h a t were a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e Apollo
program) have Shawn l i t t l e r a d i a t i v e h e a t t r a n s f e r
i n t h e low-density regime; t h a t is, t h e y show no
s u c h r a d i a t i o n enhancement. The cause of t h i s d i s -
crepancy between l a b o r a t o r y and f l i g h t d a t a h a s n o t
y e t been d e t e r m i n e d , and w i t h o u t knowing t h e cause,
i t is d i f f i c u l t t o p r e d i c t t h e e f f e c t of "on-
e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n on AOTV. On t h e o t h e r hand,
the techniques of predicting r a d i a t i v e heat-transfer
*Research S c i e n t i s t , E n t r y Technology Branch.
'd Member AIM.
This Paper is declared a work of the U.S. Government and therefore
is in the public domain.
1
r a t e s f o r c h e m i c a l l y e q u i l i b r i u m f l o w s have been
improved g r e a t l y i n t h e r e c e n t y e a r s , m o s t l y
because of P r o j e c t Galileo.
The purpose of t h e p r e s e n t two-part p a p e r is
t o s u r v e y t h e S t a t u s of knowledge of r a d i a t i o n in
t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m regime t h a t is a p p r o p r i a t e t o
t h e f l i g h t of AOTV's. I n t h e f i r s t P a r t , t h e prob-
l e m is examined from t h e programmatic and e m p i r i c a l
p o i n t s of view. To do s o , t h e reasons why AOTV's
must f l y i n t h e low-density regimes a r e f i r s t
d e l i n e a t e d . The e s s e n t i a l f i n d i n g s of t h e l a b o r a -
tory s t u d i e s 0f.nonequilibrium radiation f o r the
l o w - d e n s i t y regime are then reviewed, and t h e
Apollo and F i r e f l i g h t d a t a are analyzed t o d e t e r -
mine t h e cause of t h e absence of r a d i a t i o n enhance-
mcnt i n t h o s e f l i g h t s . I n t h e second p a r t , t h e
n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n problem is reviewed from a
t h e o r e t i c a l v i e w p o i n t . The gas k i n e t i c phenomena
(chemical r e a c t i o n s and d i f f u s i o n ) a f f e c t i n g t h e
gas p r o p e r t i e s i n t h e low-density regime are f i r s t
examined. Next, t h e r a d i a t i o n mechanisms i n t h e
n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r e g i o n t h a t are d i f f e r e n t from t h e
e q u i l i b r i u m cases a r e summarized; t h e l i m i t s of
p r e s e n t - d a y knowledge of t h e p h y s i c a l q u a n t i t i e s
i n v o l v e d and t h e a b i l i t y t o n u m e r i c a l l y compute t h e
phenomena are s u r v e y e d ; and an approximate comput-
i n g method t h a t d r a s t i c a l l y s i m p l i f i e s t h e p h y s i c a l
p i c t u r e ( b u t s t i l l y i e l d s r e s u l t s t h a t are w i t h i n
a f a c t o r of 3 of t h e l a b o r a t o r y d a t a ) is p r e s e n t e d .
F i n a l l y , s u g g e s t i o n s are made a b o u t t h e d i r e c t i o n s
t h a t f u t u r e r e s e a r c h i n r a d i a t i o n enhancement should
take.
Empirical Considerations
Missions f o r Aeroassisted O r b i t a l T r a n s f e r Vehicles
Many a r t i f i c i a l S a t e l l i t e s a r e i n o r b i t around
E a r t h . Most commercial communications s a t e l l i t e s
occupy t h e geosynchronous o r b i t (GEO) which is a t
an a l t i t u d e of a b o u t 36,000 lon and is on t h e p l a n e
p a s s i n g through t h e e q u a t o r . The o r b i t most e a s i l y
a c c e s s e d from t h e c o n t i n e n t a l United S t a t e s , t h a t
i s , t h e one t h a t r e q u i r e s a minimum amount of fuel
t o ascend t o , is a t an a l t i t u d e of ( t y p i c a l l y ) 400
!a and is a n t h e p l a n e s t h a t i n t e r s e c t t h e equa-
t o r i a l p l a n e a t an a n g l e of a b o u t 3 0 ° . These low-
E a r t h o r b i t s (LEO'S ) are t o be used by t h e Space
S h u t t l e as a s t a g i n g or p a r k i n g o r b i t . The cor-
responding LEO's used by t h e U.S.S.R. are a t o r b i t a l
a n g l e s of a b o u t 60".
I f s p a c e m a n u f a c t u r i n g and space m e d i c i n e
become r e a l i t i e s i n t h e f u t u r e , as e n v i s i o n e d , t h e s e
LEO's will b e permanently s e t t l e d by humans. Vari-
ous Earth-surveying and s p a c e - s t u d y i n g s a t e l l i t e s
occupy o r b i t s i n t h e a l t i t u d e s v a r y i n g between
t h o s e of LEO and GEO w i t h o r b i t a l a n g l e s v a r y i n g
from ' 0 ( e q u a t o r i a l ) t o 90' ( p o l a r ) . A p r o p o s a l
h a s been made a l s o t h a t t h e lunar l i b r a t i o n c e n t e r s
b e colonized.' The l i b r a t i o n p o i n t s L 1 t o L5 a r e
unique in t h a t n o t o n l y do t h e y o f f e r v a l u a b l e
s c i e n t i f i c o p p o r t u n i t i e s , b u t a minimum amount of I
r o c k e t f u e l is r e q u i r e d t o descend from them t o 1
!
i n t e r s e c t any g i v e n o r b i t around E a r t h . I f s p a c e I
v e h i c l e s could be d e c e l e r a t e d uy means of a e r o b r a k - !
i n g , v i r t u a l l y no f u e l would have tu be expended I
!
$
 in rendezvousing w i t h any t a r g e t e d s a t e l l i t e i n t h e
LEO. For t h i s reason, such v e h i c l e s would be b e s t
s u i t e d f o r emergency rescue o r p o l i c i n g o p e r a t i o n s .
I t would b e of g r e a t v a l u e i f one could t r a v e l
between one s a t e l l i t e . s t a t i o n and a n o t h e r . A
v e h i c l e t h a t could do so is p r e s e n t l y r e f e r r e d t o
as o r b i t a l t r a n s f e r v e h i c l e (OTV).'.' W i t h a n OTV
one could tow a decommissioned unmanned s a t e l l i t e
f o r r e p a i r and r e f u r b i s h i n g , and r e s u p p l y manned o r
unmanned s a t e l l i t e s . The OTV's must perform two
b a s i c t y p e s of o p e r a t i o n s : a l t i t u d e change and
o r b i t a l p l a n e change ( F i g . 1 ) . The most n o t a b l e
examples of a l t i t u d e change would be t r a n s p o r t i n g
commercial c o m u n i c a t i o n s s a t e l l i t e s t o and from
t h e GEO and commuting t o and from t h e l i b r a t i o n
c e n t e r s . O r b i t a l p l a n e changes would be r e q u i r e d
most f r e q u e n t l y t o make t r a n s f e r s from one t o
a n o t h e r s a t e l l i t e i n t h e LEO,
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T O c a r r y o u t an a l t i t u d e - c h a n g e maneuver w i t h -
o u t t h e use o f a e r o b r a k i n g , two r o c k e t engine-burns
must b e e x e c u t e d , one a t t h e h i g h e r and t h e o t h e r
a t t h e lower o r b i t . For t h e GEO-to-LEO t r a n s f e r ,
t h e v e l o c i t y changes r e q u i r e d a r e a b o u t 1 . 5 and 2 . 4
kmlsec a t t h e h i g h and t h e low o r b i t , r e s p r c t i v e l y .
W i t h a r o c k e t e n g i n e w i t h s p e c i f i c impulse of 280
sec a t t a i n a b l e w i t h s t o r a b l e f u e l s , t h e two e n g i n e
b u r n s would r e q u i r e i n i t i a l - t o - f i n a l mass r a t i o s of
a b o u t 1.7 and 2 . 4 , r e s p e c t i v e l y . The L5-to-LEO
t r a n s f e r would r e q u i r e a near-zero v e l o c i t y change
a t t h e l i b r a t i o n - p o i n t and a 3.8 kmlsec change a t
t h e LEO, c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o a mass r a t i o of a b o u t 4 .
The t r a n s f e r from a Space S h u t t l e o r b i t t o a p o l a r
o r b i t would r e q u i r e a v e l o c i t y change of a b o u t 6
h l s e c and a mass r a t i o of 9 .
Aerobraking and aeromaneuvering w i l l r e d u c e t h e
f u e l r e q u i r e m e n t s g r e a t l y . For t h e a l t i t u d e changes,
t h e e n g i n e b u r n s a t t h e lower a l t i t u d e a r e unneces-
s a r y . Saving i n f u e l w i l l r e s u l t i n o r b i t a l p l a n e
change also i f t h e v e h i c l e h a s a l i f t - t o - d r a g (LID)
r a t i o g r e a t e r t h a n I , since such a v e h i c l e w i l l
a c q u i r e a g r e a t e r normal v e l o c i t y change than t h e
v e l o c i t y l o s s due t o d r a g . 3 I d e a l l y , an o r b i t a l -
p l a n e change c o u l d be accomplished by an aeroman-
e u v e r i n g v e h i c l e of h i g h LID equipped w i t h an
a i r b r e a t h i n g e n g i n e . 5 I n most p r a c t i c a l cases, a n
a l t i t u d e change w i l l accompany a minor o r b i t a l - p l a n e
change. A blunt-nosed b a l l i s t i c v e h i c l e w i t h a
medium b u i l t - i n l i f t will be u s e f u l f o r t h i s pur-
pose. Such r e a s o n i n g l e a d s t o t h e t h r e e g e n e r i c
t y p e s of v e h i c l e s - a l l AOTV's--shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y
i n F i g s . Za-2c.
The h e a t - s h i e l d i n g r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r t h e s e d i f -
f e r e n t t y p e s of AOTV's are n e a r l y t h e same, pro-
v i d e d t h e i r size and t h e b a l l i s t i c c o e f f i c i e n t s are
t h e same. These two main p a r a m e t e r s can he e s t i -
mated from t h e f o l l o w i n g c o n s i d e r a t i o n s :
1) Mass: t h e cormnercial s a t e l l i t e s of t h e
f u t u r e are expected t o have a mass of a b o u t 5,000 kg
or more. To tow s u c h a payload, t h e t o t a l mass a t
t h e time of a t m o s p h e r i c e n t r y w i l l be a b o u t 10,000
kg or more.
2) Size: t h e overall d i a m e t e r of t y p i c a l cam..
mercial s a t e l l i t e s is of t h e o r d e r of 5 m. The
f u e l t a n k and crewls compartment w i l l have a similar
size. To p r o t e c t t h e s e components from t h e e n t r y
! h e a t i n g , t h e o v e r a l l d i a m e t e r of t h e h e a t s h i e l d
must b e a b o u t 10 m. I n F i g . 3a, a c o n c e p t u a l AOTV
is s h o w s c h e m a t i c a l l y , and is compared w i t h t h e
!
Apollo v e h i c l e and t h e s p a c e c r a f t c a l l e d F i r e t h a t
were flown t o s i m u l a t e t h e A p o l l o e n t r y f l l g h t s .
A s shown h e r e , t h e proposed A O T V ' s are l a r g e r and
have a s m a l l e r b a l l i s t i c c o e f f i c i e n t .
F i g u r e s 4a and 4b show t y p i c a l f l i g h t t r a - L/
j e c t o r i e s of t h e AOTV w i t h a b a l l i s t i c c o e f f i c i e n t
g i v e n i n F i g . 3a ( 8 4 . 9 kglm2), and compare them
w i t h t h o s e of t h e Apollo and F i r e v e h i c l e s . As
seen i n t h e s e f i g u r e s , t h e e n t r y v e l o c i t i e s of t h e
AOTV's are n e a r l y i d e n t i c a l t o thofie of t h e Apollo
or F i r e v e h i c l e s . But t h e AOTV'S are i n t h e high-
a l t i t u d e range (above 70 h) l o n g e r t h a n e i t h e r t h e
Apollo or F i r e vehicle. Because of t h e r e l a t i v e l y
l a r g e size of t h e v e h i c l e s and low ambient d e n s i t y
a t high a l t i t u d e s , the convective h e a t - t r a n s f e r
r a t e s t o t h e v e h i c l e s are r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l , t h a t
is, l e s s t h a n 100 W/cm2. By means of i n j e c t i o n ,
t h e c o n v e c t i v e h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e can a l s o be
reduced.' The l a r g e hody size produces a t h i c k e r
shock l a y e r , however and, c o n s e q u e n t l y , g r e a t e r
r a d i a t i v e h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e s t o t h e body. One
must t h e r e f o r e examine t h e e f f e c t s of t h e radia-
t i v e h e a t i n g r a t e s on t h e AOTV's.
Laboratory Data
Before t h e f l i g h t s of t h e A p o l l o ' s , a con-
c e r t e d e f f o r t was made t o d e t e r m i n e t h e r a d i a t i v e
h e a t - t r a n s f e r rates t o t h e v e h i c l e s . Shock-tube
and b a l l i s t i c - r a n g e e x p e r i m e n t s were conducted and
t h e o r e t i c a l c a l c u l a t i o n s were made. Shock t u b e s
were o p e r a t e d a t shock v e l o c i t i e s up t o 10 kmlsec
(Refs. 6-8). There was a lower l i m i t on t h e gas
d e n s i t y i n t h e s e tests b e c a u s e of t h e i n t r i n s i c
l i m i t a t i o n s of a shock t u b e , s u c h as boundary-layer
growth and c o n t a c t - s u r f a c e broadening. A t t h e shock
v e l o c i t y o f 7 lonlsec, t h e l o w e s t t e s t e d c h a r g i n g
pressure ahead of t h e shock wave was 0.05 Torr,
which c o r r e s p o n d s t o an a l t i t u d e of a b o u t 70 h
v
( s e e Fig. 4 a ) . A t t h e shock speed of 1 0 h l s e c , t h e
l o w e s t t e s t e d p r e s s u r e was 0 . 1 T o r r , c o r r e s p o n d i n g
t o an a l t i t u d e of 65 km. The t e s t e d v e l o c i t y -
d e n s i t y r e g i m e s are compared w i t h t h o s e of AOTV's
i n F i g . 4 a . I n o r d e r t o overcome t h e d i f f i c u l t y
caused by t h e boundary-layer growth, t h e tests were
conducted w i t h large s h a c k t u b e s ( d i a m e t e r s of 15
cm). The r a d i a t i o n emanating from t h e h o t gas was
measured w i t h a sensor l o c a t e d o u t s i d e t h e t u b e
from t h e s o - c a l l e d "side-on" p o s i t i o n , as shown in
Fig. 5a.
The shock-tube e x p e r i m e n t s showed t h a t t h e
l u m i n o s i t y of air is zero immediately behind a shock
wave, r i s e s t o a peak, and d e c a y s t o a small v a l u e ,
as shown s c h e m a t i c a l l y i n Fig. 6 . T h i s r a d i a t i o n
o v e r s h o o t phenomenon was i n t e r p r e t e d as b e i n g due
t o chemical n o n e q u i l i b r i u m , and a q u a l i t a t i v e e x p l a -
n a t i o n was e a s i l y given. A n i t r o g e n molecule h a s
a r e l a t i v e l y large b i n d i n g e n e r g y ( 9 . 8 eV), and
hence r e q u i r e s a long time t o d i s s o c i a t e . Before
i t could d i s s o c i a t e t o i t s e q u i l i b r i u m l e v e l , t h e
t e m p e r a t u r e rose t o a h i g h e r l e v e l than t h e e q u i -
l i b r i u m v a l u e , which i n t u r n is b e l i e v e d t o cause
t h e observed l u m i n o s i t y o v e r s h o o t .
The l u m i n o s i t y of t h e gas a t i t s peak i n t e n s i t y
I p . t h e l u m i n o s i t y i n t h e e q u i l i b r i u m r e g i o n I,,
t h e time t o reach t h e peak i n t e n s i t y t p , and t h e
time f o r t h e l u m i n o s i t y t o r e a c h 1.1 times I, t 0 . 1
( s e e F i g . 6 ) have been measured over a wide r a n g e
of g a s d e n s i t i e s and shock v e l o c i t i e s . I t was
found t h a t a t l e a s t i n t h e v i s i b l e and i n f r a r e d i
wavelength ranges, Ip v a r i e s a p p r o x i m a t e l y
 p r o p o r t i o n a l l y w i t h t h e gas d e n s i t y , and tp and
v a r y a p p r o x i m a t e l y i n v e r s e l y w i t h gas d e n s i t y .
The area under t h e l u m i n o s i t y curve i n t e g r a t e d up
to to.] remained a p p r o x i m a t e l y c o n s t a n t over a
i/ range of gas d e n s i t i e s f o r a fixed-shock v e l o c i t y .
T h i s p r o p e r t y is c a l l e d a " b i n a r y - s c a l i n g " law of
nonequilibrium Assuming t h a t t h e g a s
r a d i a t i o n is o p t i c a l l y - t h i n , t h e r a d i a t i v e power
e m i s s i o n p e r u n i t volume was o b t a i n e d by d i v i d i n g
t h e observed r a d i a t i v e power i n t o t h e s i d e - o n
d i r e c t i o n by t h e p a t h l e n g t h of t h e e m i t t i n g medium.
The r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x i n t h e d i r e c t i o n of
gas flow, t h a t i s , i n t h e end-on d i r e c t i o n shown i n
Fig. 5c, was t h e n c a l c u l a t e d by m u l t i p l y i n g t h e
power e m i s s i o n p e r u n i t volume by t h e t h i c k n e s s of
t h e gas in t h e end-on d i r e c t i o n . T h i s h e a t f l u x
from t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m region of t h e shock l a y e r
q,, o b t a i n e d i n t h e shock-tube e x p e r i m e n t s is
shown i n F i g . 7. The e q u i l i b r i u m region t h a t f o l -
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lows t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m region a l s o e m i t s a s m a l l
amount of r a d i a t i o n . From any given shock l a y e r ,
t h e r e f o r e , t h e r a d i a t i o n r e a c h i n g t h e w a l l of a
v e h i c l e is t h e sum of t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n
qne and t h e r a d i a t i o n from t h e e q u i l i b r i u m region
q,. I f t h e r e s i d e n c e time w i t h i n t h e shock l a y e r
is s m a l l e r t h a n to.]. e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n is
a b s e n t and t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n d o e s n o t
r e a c h i t s f u l l e x t e n t . T h i s premature t e r m i n a t i o n
of n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n owing t o lack of flow
r e s i d e n c e t i m e was named t h e " t r u n c a t i o n " e f f e c t . 6 - 8
S i m i l a r l y , i n t h e b a l l i s t i c - r a n g e experiments,
t h e t o t a l r a d i a t i o n e m i t t e d by a shock l a y e r and
r e c e i v e d by a sensor l o c a t e d a t a s i d e - o n p o s i t i o n
is determined ( s e e F i g . % ) ( R e f s . 9 , l O ) . T h i s mea-
s u r e d r a d i a t i o n is presumed t o b e a sum of t h a t
from t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m region and t h a t from t h e
e q u i l i b r i u m r e g i o n , i n t e g r a t e d over the e n t i r e
v i s i b l e p o r t i o n of t h e shock l a y e r . Over a f i n i t e
range of f l o w c o n d i t i o n s , t h e measured r a d i a t i o n
i n t e n s i t y was found t o be n e a r l y independent of gas
d e n s i t y . T h i s phenomenon was i n t e r p r e t e d as b e i n g
caused by t h e b i n a r y - s c a l i n g of n o n e q u i l i b r i u m
r a d i a t i o n . I n t h i s r a n g e , t h e r e f o r e , r a d i a t i o n is
presumed t o be from t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m region o n l y .
The n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n d a t a o b t a i n e d hy t h i s
method are shown i n F i g . 7 , where t h e y are compared
w i t h a shock-tube d a t a . The two s e t s o f daca agree
t o w i t h i n a f a c t o r of a b o u t 4 . Shown also i n t h e
f i g u r e is the r e s u l t of a c a l c u l a t i o n made u s i n g an
a p p r o x i m a t e t h e o r y which will be d e s c r i b e d l a t e r i n
t h i s paper.
boll0 Experience
Subsequent t o t h e s e l a b o r a t o r y s t u d i e s , t h e
F i r e 1 and F i r e 2 v e h i c l e s , equipped w i t h convec-
t i v e and r a d i a t i v e h e a t - f l u x gages a t v a r i o u s
p o i n t s , i n c l u d i n g t h e s t a g n a t i o n p o i n t , were
launched i n t o t h e atmosphere ( F i g . 5c) (Refs. 1 1 , l Z ) .
The F i r e v e h i c l e s were a p p r o x i m a t e l y 114-scale
models of t h e Apollo command module v e h i c l e , and
e n t e r e d t h e atmosphere a t v e l o c i t i e s s l i g h t l y i n
excess of t h o s e of Apollo v e h i c l e s (see F i g . 4 ) .
The F i r e v e h i c l e s were made of b e r y l l i u m , and hence
were not a b l a t i n g . The measured c o n v e c t i v e h e a t -
t r a n s f e r rates agreed w e l l w i t h t h e p r e d i c t i o n s
made u s i n g t h e a v a i l a b l e t h e o r i e s . The r a d i a t i o n
d a t a a t t h e l o w a l t i t u d e s a l s o agreed w e l l w i t h t h e
equilibrium r a d i a t i o n p r e d i c t i o n s , l l , l 2 but the
measured r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x e s i n t h e h i g h - a l t i t u d e
t/
range were c o n s i d e r a b l y s m a l l e r t h a n t h o s e deduced
from t h e l a b o r a t o r y d a t a ( s e e F i g . 8 ) . I n s t e a d of
3
being i n v a r i a n t w i t h r e s p e c t t o d e n s i t y , as was
p r e d i c t e d by t h e b i n a r y - s c a l i n g law, t h e measured
r a d i a t i v e heat f l u x diminished with diminishing
flow d e n s i t y . An examination of t h e f l i g h t envi-
ronments r e v e a l e d t h a t such d e f i c i e n c y o c c u r r e d i n
t h e regime of d e n s i t i e s lower t h a n t h o s e t e s t e d i n
t h e shock t u b e s . T h i s prompted t h e i n v e s t i g a t o r s
t o s p e c u l a t e t h a t t h e b i n a r y - s c a l i n g law is v i o -
l a t e d a t v e r y low d e n s i t i e s because of a l a c k of
s u f f i c i e n t m o l e c u l a r collisions t o m a i n t a i n t h e
e x c i t e d - s t a t e populations." Based on t h e
premise t h a c t h e e x c i t a t i o n of atoms and m o l e c u l e s
occurs through t h e c o l l i s i o n s among t h e atoms and
m o l e c u l e s , such s p e c u l a t i o n seemed t o b e p l a u s i b l e :
a t t h e d e n s i t i e s where t h e breakdown of t h e b i n a r y -
s c a l i n g law o c c u r r e d , t h e r a t e s of nolecular c o l -
lisions were of t h e same o r d e r as t h o s e of r a d i a t i v e
d e p o p u l a t i o n of t h e e x c i t e d s t a t e s . The d e f i c i e n c y
i n the excited-state populations hypothetically
caused by t h i s phenomenon was c a l l e d t h e " c o l l i s i o r r
l i m i t i n g " phenomenon.12 An e m p i r i c a l c o r r e c t i o n
f a c t o r a c c o u n t i n g f o r t h i s c o l l i s i o n l i m i t i n g is
d e r i v e d from the Fire e x p e r i m e n t , as s h a m by t h e
c h a i n curve in F i g . 8; i t was used i n p r e d i c t i n g
t h e r a d i a t i v e h e a t t r a n s f e r r a t e s t o Apollo v e h i -
cles. 1 2
Before t h e manned f l i g h t s i n t h e Apollo v e h i -
cles, Apollo 4 and Apollo 6 were flown unmanned,
equipped w i t h c a l o r i m e t e r s and r a d i o m e t e r s , as were
t h e F i r e m 0 d e 1 s . l ~ The c a l o r i m e t e r s were d e s i g n e d
t o measure t h e sum of t h e Convective and r a d i a t i v e
h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e s , and t h e r a d i o m e t e r s measured
o n l y t h e r a d i a t i v e components. These sensors were
i n s t a l l e d i n s i d e c a v i t i e s made on t h e h e a t s h i e l d .
The Apollo h e a t s h i e l d s were made of p h e n o l i c -
epoxy n o v a l a k w i t h glass r e i n f o r c e m e n t s , which are
known t o p$olyze and c h a r a t f a i r l y law h e a t i n g
rates.13,
Figures 9a and 9b show t h e r e s u l t s of t h e
c a l o r i m e t e r and r a d i o m e t e r measurements.l3 I n t h e
r e g i o n where t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n is
expected t o dominate, t h a t is, a t a l t i t u d e s above
a b o u t 65 km, t h e measured r a d i a t i v e and c o n v e c t i v e
h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e s were much s m a l l e r than t h o s e
p r e d i c t e d w i t h t h e b i n a r y - s c a l i n g l a w , and were
similar t o t h e r a d i a t i v e h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e s
observed f o r Fire models. The Apollo t e s t s seemed,
t h e r e f o r e , t o v a l i d a t e t h e c o l l i s i o n - l i m i t i n g con-
cept.
To u n d e r s t a n d t h e n a t u r e of t h e s o - c a l l e d
c o l l i s i o n - l i m i t i n g phenomenon, t h e s h o c k - l a y e r
f l a w s i n t h e s t a g n a t i o n region of t h e Fire and
Apollo v e h i c l e s are analyzed in t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y
f o r a l t i t u d e s between 7 and 80 km a t which t h e
phenomenon was seen. I n F i g . loa, t h e e n t h a l p y
p r o f i l e c a l c u l a t e d f o r F i r e 1 a t t h e m i d p o i n t of
i t s r a d i a t i o n measurement ( a l t i t u d e of 7 8 . 1 km),
u s i n g t h e c l a s s i c a l s t a g n a t i o n - p o i n t boundary l a y e r
t h e o r y , is shown by t h e s o l i d curve. The p r o f i l e
is o b t a i n e d assuming a f i x e d P r a n d t l number of 0.72,
and c o r r e s p o n d s t o t h e case in which air remained
in chemical e q u i l i b r i u m . I n t h e ionizing regime,
t h e P r a n d t l number is known t o v a r y a p p r o x i m a t e l y
as15
where E is t h e i o n i z a t i o n f r a c t i o n . In t h e e n t r y
f l i g h t of F i r e 1, t h e e q u i l i b r i u m f l o w c a l c u l a t i o n
p r e d i c t s an c v a l u e of a b o u t 0.25 a t t h e
 s t a g n a t i o n p o i n t , c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o a P r a n d t l number
of a b o u t 0.01. Such a low P r a n d t l number o c c u r s
o n l y a t t h e v e r y edge of t h e boundary l a y e r f o r an
e q u i l i b r i u m flow; however, as t e m p e r a t u r e f a l l s
toward t h e w a l l , t h e P r a n d t l number r a p i d l y
increases toward 0.72. Hence, t h e boundary-layer
p r o f i l e can b e determined a p p r o x i m a t e l y by a s s m i n g
P r t o be 0.72. A s shown i n F i g . l o a , t h e edge of
t h e e q u i l i b r i u m boundary l a y e r e x t e n d s almost t o
t h e shock wave i n t h i s case.
A t t h e d e n s i t y regime of t h e f l i g h t of F i r e 1,
however, i t is l i k e l y t h a t t h e boundary-layer f l o w
was c h e m i c a l l y f r o z e n . Hence, e l e c t r o n s p r e s e n t a t
t h e edge of t h e boundary l a y e r must have d i f f u s e d
toward t h e w a l l through t h e boundary l a y e r . Assum-
i n g t h a t t h e w a l l was f u l l y c a t a l y t i c t o elQCtrOn
recombination, t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f e l e c t r o n s i n
t h e boundary l a y e r would v a r y smoothly from t h e
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edge v a l u e t o t h e zero v a l u e a t t h e w a l l , f o l l o w i n g
t h e well-known d i f f u s i o n p r o f i l e of t h e s t a g n a t i o n -
p o i n t boundary l a y e r s . The P r a n d t l number would
c o n s e q u e n t l y remain s m a l l throughout most of t h e
boundary l a y e r . Far t h i s c a s e , t h e s t a g n a t i o n -
p o i n t boundary l a y e r is s o l v e d a s s m i n g a v a r i a b l e
P r a n d t l number such t h a t i t agrees w i t h t h e value
p r e d i c t e d by Eq. (1) a t t h e edge and v a r i e s as a
s i m p l e power of e n t h a l p y . The r e s u l t i n g e n t h a l p y
p r o f i l e is s h a m i n Fig. 10a (dashed c u r v e ) . A s
s e e n h e r e , t h e f r o z e n boundary l a y e r is p r e d i c t e d
t o e x t e n d f a r t h e r t h a n t h e p o s i t i o n of t h e shock
wave. Since t h i s i s i m p o s s i b l e , one c o n c l u d e s t h a t
t h e r e was no d i s c e r n i b l e i n v i s c i d shock l a y e r o u t -
s i d e t h e boundary l a y e r in t h i s a l t i t u d e r a n g e , and
t h a t t h e shock l a y e r was f u l l y viscous. The non-
e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n was t r u n c a t e d s e v e r e l y a s a
r e s u l t . The observed d e f i c i e n c y in r a d i a t i o n can
b e e x p l a i n e d by t h i s t r u n c a t i o n , even though t h i s
argument d o e s n o t rule o u t a t r u e , c o l l i s i o n -
l i m i t i n g phenomenon.
I n t h e case of Apollo, one n o t i c e s f i r s t t h a t
t h e c a l o r i m e t e r and r a d i o m e t e r measured a p p r a x i -
m a t e l y t h e same h e a t f l u x e s i n t h e h i g h - a l t i t u d e
range. T h i s can be t r u e o n l y i f t h e c o n v e c t i v e
h e a t - t r a n s f e r rate was zero, and t h a t i n t u r n can
be t r u e i f t h e boundary l a y e r is blown s e v e r e l y by
t h e g a s i n j e c t e d from t h e w a l l , p o s s i b l y by t h e
a b l a t l o n products of t h e heat-shield m a t e r i a l . To
u n d e r s t a n d t h e phenomenon, an a b l a t i o n c a l c u l a t i o n
was performed i n t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y , u s i n g an e x i s t -
ing computer code d e s i g n a t e d CMA ( c h a r r i n g m a t e r i a l
The c h a r r i n g p r o c e s s of t h e Apollo
h e a t s h i e l d can n o t be modeled a c c u r a t e l y because
of t h e complexity of t h e c h e m i s t r y of t h e mate-
r i a 1 . 1 6 Hence, t h e p y r o l y s i s phenomenon was f i r s t
assumed t o occur a s f o r n y l o n - p h e n o l i c f o r which
t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s are b e t t e r known.]' For t h i s
calculation, the convective heat-transfer r a t e f o r
t h e unblocked w a l l is determined by t h e formula of
Fay and R i d d e l l . 1 8 For t h e r a d i a t i v e h e a t - t r a n s f e r
r a t e , t h e observed r a d i a t i v e h e a t - f l u x v a l u e s are
f a i r e d w i t h a smooth curve (Fig. 1 1 ) . The c a l c u l a -
t i m y i e l d s a t o t a l mass l o s s o f a b o u t 0.32 g/cm2
a t t h e s t a g n a t i o n p o i n t . The e x p e r i m e n t a l d a t a on
Apollo showed a mass l o s s o f a b o u t 0.6 g/cm2 (Ref.
1 4 ) . Hence, t h e r a t e of mass l o s s c a l c u l a t e d by
t h i s method, which assumed nylon-phenolic proper-
t i e s , is doubled i n o r d e r t o approximate t h e a b l a -
t i o n phenomena f o r t h e Apollo h e a t s h i e l d . The
c h a i n curve i n F i g . 11 shows t h e r e s u l t i n g w a l l
c o n v e c t i v e h e a t - t r a n s f e r r a t e s . A s seen h e r e ,
t h e calculated wall convective-heat-transfer
rates are f a i r l y s m a l l . T h i s e x p l a i n s , a t l e a s t
q u a l i t a t i v e l y , why t h e c a l o r i m e t e r s and r a d i o m e t e r s
measured a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same h e a t f l u x e s .
Using t h e a b l a t i o n r a t e s so o b t a i n e d , t h e
boundary-layer f l o w s are s o l v e d f o r Apollo 4 in t h e d
same manner as f o r F i r e 1. I n F i g . l o b , t h e
e n t h a l p y p r o f i l e s so o b t a i n e d are shown f o r a n
a l t i t u d e of 7 3 . 5 km. A s seen i n F i g . l o b , t h e
flowing l a y e r o c c u p i e s a major p o r t i o n of t h e t o t a l
shock-layer t h i c k n e s s , b o t h f o r t h e e q u i l i b r i u m and
n o n e q u i l i b r i u m cases. As was t r u e f o r Fire 1 (Fig.
l o a ) . t h e frozen-flow boundary l a y e r e x t e n d s beyond
t h e shock wave. One c o n c l u d e s , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t t h e
n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n must have been s e v e r e l y
t r u n c a t e d a t t h e h i g h a l t i t u d e s f o r t h e Apollo
f l i g h t s a l s o . One notes here a l s o t h a t such a t h i c k
a b l a t i o n l a y e r c o u l d have absorbed t h e r a d i a t i o n
b e f o r e i t reached t h e w a l l . The blowing l a y e r
a b s o r p t i o n can e x p l a i n t h e h y s t e r e s i s phenomenon
observed f o r Apollo 6: a s F i g . 10b i n d i c a t e s , t h e
r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x a t t h e a l t i t u d e of 65 km is
lower i n t h e e a r l y p a r t of t h e e n t r y f l i g h t than i n
t h e l a t e r p a r t , probably because p y r o l y s i s gas
emission was s t r o n g e r d u r i n g t h e e a r l y p e r i o d .
For b o t h t h e Fire and Apollo f l i g h t s , t h e r e -
fore, t h e t r u e e x t e n t of n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n
was never measured. The c o l l i s i o n - l i m i t i n g concept
can n o t b e s u b s t a n t i a t e d a t a l l , even though one
c a n n o t rule i t o u t .
The t h e o r e t i c a l argument l e a d i n g t o t h e
c o l l i s i o n - l i m i t i n g c o n c e p t , t h a t is, t h a t t h e
e x c i t a t i o n of atoms and m o l e c u l e s is i n s u f f i c i e n t
in t h e a l t i t u d e ranges o f 70 t o 8 0 km, is a l s o
s w p e c t . I n t h e f l i g h t regimes of t h e F i r e and
Apollo v e h i c l e s , i t is l i k e l y t h a t t h e s h o c k - l a y e r
flow was p a r t l y i o n i z e d . E l e c t r o n s c o l l i d e w i t h
atoms and m o l e c u l e s a t rates two o r d e r s of magni- W
tued f a s t e r t h a n t h e c o l l i s i o n r a t e s of heavy
p a r t i c l e s . Moreover, e l e c t r o n s are v e r y e f f i c i e n t
in c a u s i n g e l e c t r o n i c and v i b r a t i o n a l e x c i t a t i o n s :
t h e e x i s t i n g d a t a on t h e e x c i t a t i o n of atoms by
e l e c t r o n s i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e e x c i t a t i o n cross sec-
t i o n s f o r t h e o p t i c a l l y allowed t r a n s i t i o n s are in
f a c t l a r g e r t h a n t h e e l a s t i c c o l l i s i o n cross
s e c t i o n s . 1 9 T h i s reasoning l e a d s one t o b e l i e v e
t h a t t h e c o l l i s i o n a l e x c i t a t i o n rates were a b o u t
two o r d e r s o f magnitude f a s t e r t h a n t h e r a d i a t i v e
d e p o p u l a t i o n r a t e s a t t h e 80-km a l t i t u d e .
Theoretical Considerations
R e l i a b i l i t y of L a b o r a t o r y Data
Since AOTV's w i l l be l a r g e r t h a n e i t h e r t h e
Apollo o r Fire v e h i c l e s , t h e t r u n c a t i o n phenomenon
s e e n in F i g . 10 is less l i k e l y t o o c c u r . According
t o Fig. 7 , t h e n o n e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x
q,, is between 10 and 100 Wlcm2, which is of t h e
same o r d e r of magnitude as t h e c o n v e c t i v e - h e a t -
t r a n s f e r rate f o r AOTV. The e q u i l i b r i u m r a d i a t i o n
w i l l increase t h e w a l l r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x s t i l l
f u r t h e r . Since t h e f l i g h t s of t h e F i r e and Apollo
v e h i c l e s d i d n o t y i e l d u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n on t h e
magnitude of t h e s e r a d i a t i o n s , one is compelled t o
r e l y on t h e l a b o r a t o r y d a t a shown i n F i g . 7 in t h e
d e s i g n of AOTV h e a t s h i e l d s . I t would seem prudent,
t h e r e f o r e , t o examine t h e r e l i a b i l i t y of t h e
laboratory data.
I n b o t h shock-tube and b a l l i s t i c - r a n g e e x p e r i -
ments, t h e r a d i a t i o n measurements were made side-on
 as shown in F i g s . 5a and 5b. I n t h e case of t h e
shock-tube e x p e r i m e n t , t h e d i a m e t e r of t h e t u b e was
a b o u t 1 5 cm. Over such a p a t h l e n g t h , t h e assump-
t i o n of o p t i c a l - t h i n n e s s becomes s u s p e c t . A t t h e
v c e n t e r of a n atomic o r m o l e c u l a r s p e c t r a l l i n e ,
s e l f - a b s o r p t i o n is l i k e l y t o occur even a t t h e low-
d e n s i t y regime of concern. By a s s m i n g t h e r a d i a -
t i o n t a be o p t i c a l l y - t h i n , g a s l u m i n o s i t y is
underestimated. The o p t i c a l d e p t h o f n o n e q u i l i b -
rium r a d i a t i o n i n t h e end-on d i r e c t i o n toward t h e
w a l l i n a shock l a y e r is s m a l l e r t h a n 1 5 cm ( t y p i -
c a l l y a b o u t 1 cm), and hence t h e o p t i c a l - t h i n n e s s
a p p r o x i m a t i o n h o l d s closer. The p r o c e d u r e adopted
r e s u l t s , t h e r e f o r e , in an u n d e r e s t i m a t i o n of t h e
t r u e r a d i a t i v e h e a t f l u x i n t o t h e b l u n t body. T h i s
u n d e r e s t i m a t i o n of r a d i a t i o n i s more pronounced a t
t h e l o w shock v e l o c i t i e s where i o n i z a t i o n is
a b s e n t - b e c a u s e t h e s p e c t r a l l i n e s are narrower i n
such regimes and hence more s e l f - a b s o r p t i o n occurs.
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The same argument h o l d s f o r t h e b a l l i s t i c -
range d a t a . Although t h e p h y s i c a l s i z e s of t h e
models were small i n t h e b a l l i s t i c - r a n g e t e s t s , t h e
d e n s i t i e s of t h e f r e e - s t r e a m gases were r e l a t i v e l y
h i g h t o a v o i d t h e t r u n c a t i o n phenomenon. The t o t a l
o p t i c a l d e p t h i n t h e side-on d i r e c t i o n is c o n s i d e r -
a b l y l a r g e r t h a n i n t o t h e end-on d i r e c t i o n , as i s
a p p a r e n t from Fig. 5b. One s u s p e c t s , t h e r e f o r e ,
t h a t b o t h shock-tube and b a l l i s t i c - r a n g e t e s t d a t a
are l i k e l y t o u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e t r u e r a d i a t i v e h e a t
fluxes to the vehicle.
In addition, f o r the ballistic-range erperi-
ments, a c o m p l i c a t e d volume i n t e g r a t i o n of t h e
e m i t t i n g m e d i m had t o be c a r r i e d o u t i n o r d e r t o
d e t e r m i n e t h e r a d i a t i v e power e m i s s i o n p e r u n i t
volume, which i n v o l v e d an assumption a b o u t t h e
w d i s t r i b u t i o n of gas p r o p e r t i e s throughout t h e shock
l a y e r , and t h e a c c u r a c y of t h e assumption is n o t
f u l l y understood. I d e a l l y , a r a d i a t i o n measure-
ment can b e made from an end-an p o s i t i o n , as was
done f o r t h e Apolla and F i r e v e h i c l e s . T h i s w i l l
e l i m i n a t e t h e u n c e r t a i n t y about o p t i c a l t h i c k n e s s
and a b o u t t h e e m i t t i n g volume. Both s h a c k t u b e
and b a l l i s t i c r a n g e c o u l d be used f o r such an end-
on measurement, w i t h complementing a d v a n t a g e s and
disadvantages.
Chemical and K i n e t i c R e l a x a t i o n
I n view of t h e u n c e r t a i n t i e s i n t h e e x p e r i -
m e n t a l r a d i a t i o n d a t a in t h e low-density regime, i t
would seem worrhwhile t o a t t e m p t an a l t e r n a t i v e ,
t h e o r e t i c a l approach. I n t h e f o l l o w i n g two set-
t i o n s , t h e s t a r u s o f t h e knowledge of t h e s u b j e c t
is reviewed.
A p r e r e q u i s i t e t o computing r a d i a t i o n is know-
l e d g e o f s p e c i e s c o n c e n t r a t i o n and c o n t r o l l i n g
temperatures. I n general t h e r e are f o u r d i f f e r e n t
modes i n s e n s i b l e t e m p e r a t u r e , t h a t is, g a s (heavy
p a r t i c l e ) , r o t a t i o n a l , v i b r a t i o n a l , and e l e c t r o n .
These q u a n t i t i e s are governed by t h e e q u a t i o n s of
c o n s e r v a t i o n s of 1 ) s p e c i e s mass, 2) g l o b a l mass,
3) g l o b a l momentum, 4) g l o b a l e n e r g y , 5 ) ~ n e r g yi n
i n d i v i d u a l s e n s i b l e mode, and 6 ) mmenttrm of elec-
t r o n gas ( e l e c t r i c c u r r e n t ) . The eneral forms of
t h e s e e q u a t i o n s are w e l l known.20,'1 I n She low-
d e n s i t y regime b e i n g c o n s i d e r e d , t h e t r a n s p o r t
phenomenon e n t e r s into a l l of t h e s e e q u a t i o n s .
W The r a t e of change of mass f r a c t i o n sf a
chemical s p e c i e s a is a sum of t h e r a t e of
5
d i f f u s i o n and t h e n e t chemical p r o d u c t i o n rate. In
one dimension, t h i s can b e e x p r e s s e d as
de
PU -= diffusion r a t e
dx
+ n e t chemical r a t e
= -d do
dx ( P D E) + Rf - R, (2)
Here P , u, and D a r e d e n s i t y , v e l o c i t y , and d i f -
f u s i o n c o e f f i c i e n t , and Rf and Rr are t h e forward
and r e v e r s e chemical r a t e , r e s p e c t i v e l y . Eleven
chemical s p e c i e s (N2. 02, N , 0, NO, q,
0::. N+, 0+,
NO+, and e - ) must b e accounted f o r i n t h e AOTV
f l i g h t regime, and a t l e a s t 20 chemical r e a c t i o n s
occur s i g n i f i c a n t l y among t h e s e s p e c i e s i n t h a t
regime. The r e a c t i o n - r a t e c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r t h e s e
are known t o w i t h i n a f a c t o r of 2 t o 3 ( s e e , e . g . ,
Ref. 2 2 ) .
Behind a shock wave, a f i n i t e s l o p e is pro-
duced i n t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n of all of t h e s e s p e c i e s .
A s a r e s u l t , t h e s p e c i e s d i f f u s e toward or away
from t h e shock wave, depending on t h e s i g n of t h e
s l o p e . The r a t e and t h e e x t e n t of t h e d i f f u s i o n
depend on t h e s l o p e i n t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n p r o f i l e
and gas d e n s i t y . I n t h e low-density, high-speed
f l o w s produced by t h e AOTV's, t h e s l o p e s are s t e e p
and t h e gas d e n s i t y is low, r e s u l t i n g i n a s t r o n g
d i f f u s i o n . S i n c e t h e shock wave d o e s n o t c r e a t e
any of t h e s e s p e c i e s , t h e d i f f u s i o n r a t e must b e
balanced by t h e c o n v e c t i v e t r a n s f e r r a t e a t t h e
shock wave in t h e form
pua + OD -
de =
dx
0 (3)
This equation y i e l d s a f i n i t e value f o r the species
c o n c e n t r a t i o n f o r a l l s p e c i e s a t t h e shock wave.
The v a l u e and t h e s l o p e f o r t h e s p e c i e s c o n c e n t r a -
t i o n a t t h e shack which is c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h e con-
d i t i o n t h a t e q u i l i b r i u m is reached a t t = *. must
be found s i m u l t a n e o u s l y w i t h t h e s o l u t i o n of Eq.
(2). The problem t h u s becomes e l l i p t i c , and t h e
numerical p r o c e d u r e f o r s o l v i n g t h e e l l i p t i c equa-
t i o n i n v o l v i n g chemical r a t e s h a s n e v e r been
developed.
Of t h e f o u r t e m p e r a t u r e modes mentioned above.
r o t a t i o n a l temperature tends t o e q u i l i b r a t e very
f a s t w i t h t h e g a s t e m p e r a t u r e , and hence can b e
assumed t o be e q u a l t o tfie gas t e m p e r a t u r e . The
v i b r a t i o n a l and e l e c t r o n t e m p e r a t u r e s tend t o e q u a l
each o t h e r also b e c a u s e of a s t r o n g c o u p l i n g
between them.lg E l e c t r o n t e m p e r a t u r e d i c t a t e s t h e
c o l l i s i o n a l i o n i z a t i o n r a t e s , and t h e r e f o r e must be
determined a c c u r a t e l y . 1 9 During a c o l l i s i o n a l
i o n i z a t i o n p r o c e s s , e l e c t r o n gas loses e n e r g y e q u a l
to the ionization potential. Conversely, t h e elec-
t r o n gas g a i n s e n e r g y d u r i n g a three-body e l e c t r o n
recombination. E q u i l i b r a t i o n of e l e c t r o n tempera-
t u r e w i t h gas t e m p e r a t u r e is slow b e c a u s e of t h e
large d i s p a r i t y between t h e e l e c t r o n mass and
h e a v y - p a r t i c l e mass. T h i s causes a s e p a r a t i o n
between t h e two t e m p e r a t u r e s . 2 0 The change i n
e l e c t r o n and v i b r a t i o n a l t e m p e r a t u r e Te can b e
c a l c u l a t e d by a c c o u n t i n g f o r a l l t h e energy i n f l o w s
and o u t f l o w s f o r t h e e n e r g y p o o l c o n s i s t i n g of
e l e c t r o n gas e n e r g y and v i b r a t i o n a l energy of t h e
molecules. Denoting Ne and M as rhe number
d e n s i t i e s of e l e c t r o n s and m o l e c u l e s , r e s p e c t i v e l y ,
and assuming t h a t t h e e n e r g y lass by r a d i a t i o n is
n e g l i g i b l e , t h e r a t e of change of t h e combined
e n e r g y p o o l i s governed by
 P "dx q
(Ne + M) Te
P 1 = rate of heat conduc-
tion in electron gas
+ rate of energy g a i n
by elastic collisions
with heavy particles
+ rate of net e n c r g y
gain during the
inelastic (collisional
ionization) processes
+ rate of energy gain
due to collisional
excitation of v i h r a . -
tional mode
The expressions for the four terns in the
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right-hand side of E ( 4 ) can be found from the
literature.20,21,23-q6 The parameters charncter-
izing the magnitudes of the first three terms in
the right-hand side are known to within a factor
of 2 to 3 . The vibrational relaxation rate coef-
ficient appearing in the fourth tern is known
accurately for temperatures below about 8000 K
(Ref. 25). Extrapolation of these values to the
30,000-K temperature that will be encountered in
the AOTV flight regime leads to a logical incon-
sistency that the vibrational excitation cross
section i s diminishingly smaller than the elastic
collision cross sections. Experience shows that
the intensity of radiation from the nonequilibrium
region behind a shock wave i n the AOTV flight
regime is severely affected (by several orders of
magnitude) by the relaxation rate value i n this
high-temperature range.
The boundary conditions for Eq. ( 4 ) a r e deter-
mined by the phenomena ahead of the shock wave.
Because of the heat conduction i n the electron gas
and absorption of radiation emitted by the gas
behind the shock wave, the flow immediately ahead
of the shock wave is probably ionized. Electron
density and temperature become zero at the upstream
edge of this ionized region. The boundary condi-
tions at the shock wave are such that the values
and the slopes of electron temperature and density
must be continuous at the shock wave. These condi-
tions must be compatible with those at t = -.
The global enthalpy of the gas H i s a sum
of all sensible modes of energy and the latent
energies of all chemical species. Its rate of
change is expressed, for the case in which energy
loss by radiation is negligible, by
where k is the thermal conductivity, I., is the
Lewis number, hi is the enthalpy of species i,
and the summation is taken over all species i.
If the Lewis number is assumed to be unity, this
equation simplifies considerably. Otherwise, heat
flow becomes significant, and the problem with
the boundary conditions arises.
To illustrate the extent of the separation
between the heavy-particle and electron-vibrational
temperature and the possibility of significant
transport processes. a simple calculation is per-
formed i n the present study by neglecting the
transport terms in these equations. All
collisional reactions given i n Ref. 22 are included
for this calculation, with the rate coefficients
given also i n the reference. The vibrational
relaxation time is expressed as the sum of the low-
temperature and high-temperature v a l u e s . The low-
u/
temperature relaxation time is taken to be the
nitrogen value given i n R e f . 25. The high-
temperature relaxation time is estimated using a
hard-sphere collision model and choosing the exci-
tation cross section so that the high-temperature
relaxation time would be the same as the low.
temperature relaxation time at the temperature of
10,000 K. This model reproduces the existing
vibrational relaxation rate data for nitrogen at
the low temperatures, and yields a finite excita-
(4) tion cross section at high temperatures, although
the absolute magnitude of the high-temperature
value may not be correct. A typical result of this
calculation is shown in Fig. 12. A s seen here,
there i s a wide separation between the gas tempera-
ture and the vibrational-electron temperature i n
the altitude regime of interest. The slopes in the
two temperature profiles are large behind the shock
wave. From these, one s e e s the need to Separately
calculate the vibrational-electron temperature,
and the need to include the transport terms in the
conservation equations.
Nonequilibrium Radiation
To calculate the intensity of radiation
emitted by a gas under nonequilibrium conditions,
one must first know the number densities of the
upper and lower state of a particular optical
transition. The ratio of the two number densities
defines the so-called source function, or source
temperature, i n radiation transport, which i s in
general different from any of the four sensible V
temperatures mentioned earlier. The term excita-
tion temperature is sometimes used to describe the
source temperature.
The rate of change of the number density of
any given internal state of an atom or a molecule
n is a sum of the rate of diffusion and the net
chemical production rate in exactly the Same form
as i n Eq. (2). For the internal states, however,
the chemical terns Rf and R, are usually much
larger than the diffusion term. To a first order,
therefore, one can set
R - R = O (6)
f r
This is known as a quasi-steady-state condition.
Equation ( 6 ) is mitten for a l l available internal
states of atoms and molecules, resulting i n a
lar~esystem of algebraic equations.
I n general, Rf and R, consist of the sum of
all collisional and radiative transitions. For
radiative transitions, the rate of transition from
the initial state i to the final state j , R i j ,
is expressed as
(radiative) R i j = Ai3 "i (7)
where A i j is the transition probability and nf
i s the number density of state i. For collisional
transitions, the rate becomes
6
 where Kij is the collisional transition rate
coefficient and X is the number density of the
colliding particle causing the transition. The
left sides of Figs. 13a and 13b schematically show
v the types of transitions involved. In both atomic
and molecular systems, the transitions occur in
four different directions, that is, to and from
the upper and lower states from the state under
consideration. The destination of these transi-
tions, suffixed j i n Eqs. (7) and (E), must
include all possible States i n the system. The
colliding partner X can be either a heavy par-
ticle o r an electron. But electrons are several
orders of magnitude more effective in causing the
electronic and vibrational transitions than the
heavy particles.19 For these transitions, there-
fore, heavy-particle contributions can be neglected.
When all such transitions are summed up into
Eq. ( 6 ) , one obtains a system of simultaneous
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linear equations of an order equal to the number
of available states, with the state densities ni's
as the unknowns in the left-hand side and the con-
centrations of the gas species N i ' s a s the known
quantities i n the right-hand side i n the formz3
The matrix [Bijl contains the collisional and
radiative transition rate coefficients, and the
vector ci specifies the equilibrium thermo-
dynamic parameters. By solving Eq. ( 9 ) , one
obtains the distribution of number densities of all
internal states. When the resulting n i ' s are
divided by the multiplicity gi's and plotted in a
semilogarithmic form, one obtains a plot such as
that shown in the right sides of Figs. 13a and 13b.
'W
For atomic systems, the collisional and radi-
ative transition rate coefficients are known to a
fair accuracy. For nitrogen atom, which is the
most important atomic radiator in the AOTV flight
regime, the excitation rate coefficients have been
tabulated,24 and the state population distributions
calculated using these excitation rates have been
compared with experiment. Agreement between theory
and experiment w a s g ~ d . ~ 'The right side of Fig.
13a shows typical such results. Shown also in the
figure is a straight line connecting the ground
State and the ionized state. The existing data
indicate that when the flow is ionized Signifi-
cantly, the population density distribution
approximately follows this line. For a first
approximation, therefore, this logarithmically
linear distribution can be used for the AOTV cal-
culation.
I n the right-side of Fig. 13b, the corres-
ponding case of a molecular system is shown.
Unlike the atomic systems, very little is known of
the collisional transition rates in molecular
systems. An effort was made in the present study
to approximate the distribution by the one desig-
nated "2-distribution" in the figure, in which the
upper state is assumed to be in equilibrium with
the free (atomic) state while the lower state is
in equilibrium with the ground state." The
resulting spectra were compared with the available
experimental data. The calculated spectra did not
resemble the observed spectra. It seems, there-
fore, that the distribution of the internal states
of the molecular systems is more complex than the
case of atomic systems, and cannot be modeled at
present.
Approximate Computing Method
Because of the need to estimate the radiative
heat fluxes to the AOTV's, an approximate calcula-
tion method was developed at Ames Research Center.
This model assumes that the vibrational and elec-
tron temperatures are the same as the gas tempera-
ture: all transport phenomena are neglected. Ten
chemical reactions [(02 + X + 0 + 0 + X);
(N2 + X + N + N + X); (NO + X + N + 0 + X);
(NO + N + 0 + N 2 ) ; (NO + 0 + 02 + N ) ;
(N + e + N+ + e + e ) ; (0 + e + O + + e + e ) ;
(N$ + e * N + N ) ; (NO+ + e + N + 0); and
(08 + e + 0 + O)] are included in the calculation.
The rate coefficients for these reactions are the
same as those given i n Ref. 2 2 . The mechanisms of
radiation included are 1) all atomic lines of N
and 0 given i n Ref. 2 9 ; 2 ) all atomic bound-free
continuum of N and 0 given i n Ref. 30; 3) @
first-negative band; 4 ) N2 first-positive band;
5 ) N2 second-positive band; 6 ) NO beta; 7) NO
gamma, and 8) the 02 Schumann-Rurge band. The
intensity parameters for the atomic lines are taken
from Ref. 2 9 , the continuum intensity parameters
from Ref. 30, and the molecular bands from Ref. 31.
Widths of the spectral lines are determined by the
method given in Ref. 32, and the calculation is
carried out line-by-line with the method described
i n Ref. 33.
In Fig. 7, the results of this calculation are
compared with the experimental data. The simple
code produces results that agree fairly well with
the laboratory data, especially at high flight
velocities. At l o w velocities, the code over-
estimates by a factor of about 3. As mentioned
earlier, however, the experimental data at low
velocities are likely to underestimate. Hence,
the discrepancy between the present theoretical
results and the experimental data is overlooked.
I n essence, the code is believed to be accurate to
within a factor of about 3. The code is used in
Ref. 34 to compute the radiative heat fluxes for
AOTV's.
Recommendations for Future Work
Both theoretical work and experimental work
are needed in order to make reliable determina-
tions of the radiative heat fluxes to the AOTV's.
Experimentally, the scatter existing in the experi-
mental data ( s e e Fig. 6 ) must be narrowed. The
factor of 4 scatter among the heat-flux data shown
in Fig. 7 is too large to be tolerated. The fac-
tor of 3 deviation between the present computed
results and some of the experimental data points
shown i n Fig. 7 corresponds to an uncertainty in
radiation-equilibrium wall temperature of a factor
of 1.3, which is also intolerably large. The
uncertainty concerning tha transformation of the
radiative heat-flux data obtained at the side-on
position ( s e e Fig. 5 ) into the end-on position
must be removed. Preferably, a radiation measure-
ment would be made with a radiation sensor located
at the stagnation point, as was done far the
Apollo and Fire vehicles (see Fig. 5c). Both
shock-tube and ballistic-range facilities could be
used for such a test. Whether and where the
binary-scaling law of nonequilibrium radiation is
 violated at the very low density owing to the
collision-limiting phenomenon needs to be investi-
gated. Experiments are needed also to provide
physical property values f o r theoretical modeling.
This includes: 1) vibrational relaxation rate
coefficient at temperatures above 10,000 K,
2) excitation rate coefficients for molecules, and
3) spectral linewidths, especially of molecules in
an ionized regime. In addition it would be desir-
able to improve the accuracy of the known chemical
reaction-rate coefficients and spectral intensity
parameters.
Theoretical investigations must be made on
several fronts also. Most urgent is the examina-
tion and analysis of the existing laboratory and
flight data and their incorporation into a theo-
retical model. Theoretical calculation of physical
properties such as vibrational relaxation rate,
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spectral intensity parameters, and linewidths would
?e helpful in this endeavour. A numerical algo-
rithm must be devised that accounts for the trans-
port phenomena behind a shock wave and the
precursor ionization. Coupling the chemical and
kinetic models with a multidimensional flow-field
calculation will be a hard task also. The chemi-
cal and kinetic equations describing the physico-
chemical phenomena are large in number and are
very stiff, and therefore would consume an unac-
ceptably large cwputing time. The flow-field
calculation must be of the full viscous-shock-
layer type with finite rate chemistry. The
boundary conditions at the wall f o r the various
properties involved must be examined also.
Conclusions
Existing experimental data obtained in shock
tubes and ballistic ranges indicate that the
radiation from a shock layer in the nonequilibrium
regime expected of the aeroassisted orbital trans-
fer vehicles is of the same order as the convec-
tive heat-transfer rates to the vehicles, but the
rates are uncertain to within a factor of 3.
Measurements with the Fire vehicles yielded small
values of the radiation rates because of the trun-
cation phenomenon, and the Apollo experiment
resulted i n small values because of the combina-
tion of boundary-layer blowing and truncation.
Many problems exist in modeling the nonequilibrium
radiation theoretically, but an approximate com-
puting method that roughly reproduces the existing
experimental data has been introduced. Further
experimental work and theoretical work are needed
in order to improve the reliability of the radia-
tive heat-transfer rate predictions.
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~ -
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8
'Hornby, H. and A l l e n , W. H., ' N i s s i o n to the
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-AV

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IC) HIGH-LIFT AIRBREATHING

Fig. 2 Three generic types of AoTV'S.

9
 M = 10,000 kg
M/lCdAI = 84.9 kg/rn2

la1 ORBITAL TRANSFER VEHICLE (OTVI

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(b) APOLLO

0.6 rn 0.9 rn M = 84 kg
L- ~~
MIlCdAI = 160 kg/rn2

7 IcJ FIRE W
Fig. 3 Typical d i r n r i > s i n n s o f AOTV, A p o l l o , a n d F i r e v e h i c l e s .

100 -

80-
z.

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
AIR-RELATIVE VELOCITY, V
,, krnlrec

la1 VELOCITY-ALTITUDE PROFILE

Fig. 4 F l i g h t t r ; i j e r t a r i e s o f AOTV, A p o l l o , and F i r e .

10
 TIME

BINARY SCALING: qne = q,,(V,l

TIME. t, sec
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TRUNCATION: to,, <FLOW TIME

COLLISION.LIMITING: q <qne
(b) TIME-ALTITUDE PROFILE

Pig. 4 (Concluded). Fig. 6 Concepts of nonequilibrium radiation.

..
(a) SHOCK TUBE EXPERIMENT

t-’Y)i .
p = 1 torr

/ 0
/
SENSOR
(SIDE-ON)
/
(bl BALLISTIC RANGE EXPERIMENT
z
0
-- PRESENT THEORY
z o SHOCK TUBE^-^
0 BALLISTIC RANGE’.’’
SENSOR 0 0

IC)
fEND.ONl

APOLLO AND FIRE EXPERIMENTS

u
‘6 8 10
FLIGHT VELOCITY.V,,
12

kmlrec
14

Fig. 5 Schematic of experimental methods Fig. 7 Nonequilibrium radiative heat flux

for determining radiative heat-transfer r a t e s . obfnined in the laboratory.

11
 1000
I FIRE 1 AND 2 I

N NONEQ. RADIATIVE q
(PRESENT MODEL1

I
YI

2
n
10
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COLLISION-LIMITING
THEORY~~

60 65 70 75 80 85
ALTITUDE, km

Fig. 8 Radiative h e a t flux f o r

the Fire 1 and Fire 2 vehicles.

looor i-r

I THEORETICAL
TOTAL q (REF. 13)

NDNEQ. RADIATIVE q

COLLISION-

..-.. -..

55 60 65 70 75 80
A&TlTUDE, km
Ibl APOLLO 6

Fig. 9 Stagnation p o i n t hrat-transfer r a t e data for the Apollo vehicle^:'^

12
 40r-
DISTANCE, X. mm

V NONEO.

8
.iLSHOCK POSITION (INVISCID1

A (a) F l R E l , h = 7 8 . 1 km
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I\SHOCK POSITION
.2
(‘NVISCID’
(b) APOLLO 4, h = 73.5 km

0 5 10 15 20 25
DISTANCE FROM WALL, cm

Fig. 10 Enthalpy profiles for the Fire Fig. 12 Gas and vibrational-electron tempera-
and Apollo vehicles calculated assuming ture calculated for an altitude of 80 !a and a
equilibrium and nonequilibrium chemistry flight velocity of 9 . 6 kmlsec, neglecting
transport phenomena.

ENERGY POPULATION
LEVELS

-
(a1 ATOMIC SYSTEM

NE loo0l

20 . 30 40 . 50 60 70
TIME, t, sac Ibl MOLECULAR SYSTEM
L/
Fig. 11 Heat-transfer rate history for Apollo 4 , Fig. 13 Schematic of atomic and molecular
combining measured data with CMA calculation. systems under nonequilibrium excitation.

13