LABORATORY STUDIES OF ROCKET PLUME RADIATION AT REDUCED PRESSURE

Abstract : Laboratory studies were conducted about the spatial and spectral distribution of rocket plume radiance at simulated altitudes. Motors of 150 to 200 lb thrust were operated at sea level and at pressures equivalent to approximately 50,000 and 100,000 ft. The propellant combinations studied were gasoline/oxygen, RP 1/OXYGEN, JP 4/oxygen, UDMH/N2O4 and aluminized solid propellant. A traversing rocket technique was employed which permitted simultaneous observation of a number of radiometric and spectrometric properties of a common area of the plume. The graphical presentations of these data are interpreted on a qualitative and semi-quantitative basis.