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Aerospace
NASA Image Library: https://www.nasa.gov/offices/oct/images/office-of-the-chief-technologist-history-nasa-is-with-you-when-you-fly/nasa-is-with-you-when-you-fly-supersonic-passenger-air-travel
Improved Hypersonic Aircraft Flight Control System
NASA’s MHD patch technology is composed of two electrodes positioned a prescribed distance apart recessed into angled channels on the surface of the TPS of an aircraft or spacecraft and an electromagnetic coil placed directly below the electrodes with the magnetic field protruding out of the surface. Note that the recessed/angled MHD patch described here is a special version of the original MHD patch described in LAR-TOPS-363. During hypersonic flight, the conductive ionizing atmospheric flow over the surface permits current to flow between the two electrodes. This current is harnessed to power the electromagnet which in turn generates strong Lorentz forces that augment lift and drag forces for guidance, navigation, and control of the craft. Alternatively, the current can be used to charge a battery. Changing the size of the MHD patch (e.g., the length or distance between the electrodes), the strength of the electromagnet, or the direction of the magnetic field enables tuning of generated forces for a given craft design. Multiple MHD patches can be leveraged on a single craft. In-silico evaluation of the non-recessed, non-angled MHD patch technology on select aeroshell designs for mock entry into planetary atmospheres has been performed. A single 1m<sup>2</sup> MHD patch exerts forces up to 200 kN under simulated Neptune atmosphere entry that can be used to control a craft.
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