A combined analytical and experimental investigation of the effect of stagnation region chemicalionization non-equilibrium phenomena on the aerothermodynamic and electrical properties of the flow field over a hemisphere cylinder at hypersonic speeds was conducted. In the analytical studies, flow field caluclations were made using several IBM 704 computer programs which account for finite reaction rate processes. The experimental phases of the study were done in the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory 6' Shock Tunnel at a nominally constant velocity of 15,500 ft/sec. Measurements were made of the surface pressure and heat transfer, shock layer pitot pressure, and suface layer electrical conductivity on hemishpere cylinder models for a range of values of the stagnation region non-equilibrium scaling parameter. (Author).

A Trailblazer II rocket was launched on 18 June 1967 from the NASA wallops Island (Va.) Rocket Test Facility to study the properties of the reentry plasma sheath and its effects on microwave antenna performance. The reentry payload consisted of three major subsystems: a plasma diagnostic system, an S- band transponder system, and an X-band telemetry system. The flight data yielded (1) measurements of the influence of the plasma on the radiation pattern distortion, signal attenuation, and impedance mismatch for an S-band slot antenna located at the stagnation point of the nose cone; (2) measurements of the plasma sheath effects on the interantenna coupling between two S-band antennas on the nose cone; and (3) determinations of the electron density profile and gradients in the boundary layer about the nose cone.