Flight-Test Experiment Design for Characterizing Stability and Control of Hypersonic Vehicles

TLDR

The paper presents a maneuver design method tailored to determine the stability and control characteristics of hypersonic vehicles. The method is grounded in analytical properties that maximize information content in flight data, and the authors provide a detailed design procedure for generating maneuvers while addressing practical implementation issues. Flight tests of the X‑43A vehicle confirm that the maneuver design yields excellent modeling results.

Abstract

A maneuver design method that is particularly well-suited for determining the stability and control characteristics of hypersonic vehicles is described in detail. Analytical properties of the maneuver design are explained. The importance of these analytical properties for maximizing information content in flight data is discussed, along with practical implementation issues. Results from flight tests of the X-43A hypersonic research vehicle (also called Hyper-X) are used to demonstrate the excellent modeling results obtained using this maneuver design approach. A detailed design procedure for generating the maneuvers is given to allow application to other flight test programs.