The LaSPACE Research Enhancement Awards (REA) Program is intended to provide support for faculty (and students) at LaSPACE member institutions, particularly aimed at the emerging researcher or an established researcher who wishes to pursue new research directions, for the development of projects, contacts, and collaborations that will bring Louisiana scientists into the mainstream of NASA related research activity, thereby increasing their chances to successfully compete in the aerospace R&D marketplace. As is true with all LaSPACE Programs, minority participation is strongly encouraged. The REA Program is funded by state matching funds, through the Board of Regents Support Fund. The awards are intended to develop expertise and to contribute to research competitiveness. However, awards are not intended purely to support faculty salaries or graduate student stipends. It is anticipated (and strongly advised) that students (both graduate and undergraduate) will be involved in REA projects, but the overriding goal is the development of research capabilities and infrastructure in support of the countrys space/aerospace endeavors. In that regard, contacts/collaborations/ties to NASA centers and NASA researchers are strongly encouraged. The overall goal for this Program is to effectively utilize the resources available through LaSPACE as incentive for faculty and students: 1) to develop research competitiveness 2) to develop new research projects or directions, and 3) to foster collaborations among the campuses, as well as with NASA centers and/or other federal laboratories and with the business/industry community.

REA, Menon, LSU, Proposal Abstract: Temperature measurements in the exhaust plume of a rocket engine are required for design of spacecraft components and rocket test facilities. Temperature distribution affects design of thermal protection systems for spacecraft solar panels and cooling systems used in ground rocket tests. These measurements are made difficult by the supersonic flow environment. This work proposes to develop and test a non-intrusive laser diagnostic technique for obtaining temperature measurements in a rocket engine exhaust plume. The proposed technique utilizes a tomographic version of tunable laser diode absorption spectroscopy. A single laser source generates a fan beam, which after passing through the test section is detected by an array of photodiodes. The absorption of the beam at two different wavelengths is measured and used to reconstruct the temperature field in the plane of measurement using Abel inversion techniques. The volume field can be imaged by repeating the planar measurement at different axial locations. The technique will be used to scan the exhaust plume of a scaled hybrid rocket engine being constructed at LSU. Details of the measurement technique will be provided to NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, which is interested in plume measurements to support base heating tests of the Space Launch System. Further, measurement data will be provided to NASA Stennis Space Center to be used in validating numerical codes to simulate ground rocket testing. The proposed work including diagnostic development, measurement, and post-processing will be carried out during the span of one year.