Hypersonic Re-Entry Deployable Glider Experiment (HEDGE): A CubeSAT Approach to Low-Cost Hypersonic Research; The Ethics and Technical Aspects of Hypersonic Vehicles

My 4th
-year capstone experience was focused on the following goal: to prove that
undergraduate aerospace engineering students can gather valuable hypersonic data from a flight
test conducted at NASA Wallops Flight Facility. The technical portion consisted of HEDGE, or
Hypersonic re-Entry Deployable Glider Experiment, being modeled inside of Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software and MATLAB to find the center of pressure, drag coefficient as
well as wall temperatures on the hypersonic vehicle. My STS research was aimed at describing
the consequences of the use of hypersonic vehicles on society. Hypersonic vehicles have the
capability to change the course of history, the physical appearance of an entire country as well as
advance technology to new heights all at the same time. Given these factors, it was incredibly
important to look at the technical aspects of hypersonic vehicles through HEDGE as well as their
ethical implications to provide a wholistic description of their capabilities.
My capstone research analyzed the technical aspects of hypersonic vehicles using my
team’s HEDGE design. Specifically, I investigated the way in which the center of pressure
changes as HEDGE approaches the surface of the Earth using CFD. Additionally, I researched
how the temperature of HEDGE’s exterior would change as it encounters the intense heat
transfer effects experienced as it glides to the surface of the Earth using MATLAB. I also
identified the key area of limitation when it comes to higher-level hypersonics research:
computational power. Given the complex physics involved in hypersonic flow student CFD
licenses, like the one used to gather data here, these do not allow for the use of enough cores and
nodes which are necessary to accurately capture turbulent boundary layers for instance. Given
this, I recommended that three-dimensional CFD models be conducted on more computationally
capable software with higher limits on core and node usage than the student license utilized in
this research. Additionally, as part of my STS research, the consequences of hypersonic research
and the key players in the development of the technology were identified. The consequences
could be disastrous: destruction of cities and possibility countries in a matter of minutes. It was
noted that these weapons be utilized in a defensive fashion only to limit the chance of mass
destruction occurring. Further, the key players in the hypersonic “arms race” are currently China,
Russia and the United States of America. The use of these weapons could put less-wealthy
countries at risk like Ukraine and South Korea who would have no chance in defending
themselves. Given this, it is incredibly important that countries who possess these weapons use
them with proper ethics in mind.
III. Conclusion
I knew coming into the capstone experience that I would learn much more about
hypersonic flow physics and aerodynamics than I did before this academic year. However, I
didn’t realize how much I would learn about the tools, like Ansys CFD as well as MATLAB,
which will be extremely helpful as I transition to working in the industry this summer. Further,
my capstone team supported me throughout the entire project in investigating complex
hypersonic flow physics, which taught me exactly how much team support can mean to my
individual success. I also learned that the structure of dividing a fifteen-person group into
different sub-teams allows teams to delve deeply into the different technical aspects of the
project which leads to greater team success when it comes time for integration. However, one of
the disappointing lessons from my capstone research was that hypersonic research requires
computing power that is not cheap to obtain which limits student groups like my team.
Therefore, I’ve found that one of the biggest parts of this project was to find as much funding as
possible to be able to support each technical endeavor to their highest degree possible. In my
STS research, I found that the hypersonics “arms race”, which is currently intensifying, could
have a disastrous impact on the world as we know it. Specifically, hypersonic weapons have the
capability to change cities and even entire countries in a matter of minutes, which is an
objectively frightening statement. I have also learned that there is an ethical responsibility on the
wealthier countries who possess hypersonic weapons like the U.S., Russia as well as China to
refrain from using them offensively against countries like South Korea and Ukraine to name a
few. There are potential issues with HEDGE when one considers the fact that the project directly
supports the development of hypersonic missile technology. However, the responsibility falls on
the aforementioned countries in control of the use of these weapons to use them on a defensive
basis only.