The successful development of hypersonic vehicles requires a detailed knowledge of the flow physics around the vehicle. The physics knowledge and modeling confidence drives the development of the major vehicle flight systems including the thermal protection system and flight control system. Specifically, an understanding of the thermochemical nonequilibrium behavior is crucial for this flight regime. The hypersonic flight regime involves an extremely high level of energy so a small error in the modeling of the energy processes can result in drastic changes in the vehicle design, including prohibitive design requirements. This emphasizes the need for a deep understanding of the underlying flow phenomena and molecular energy transfer processes in order to adequately design a hypersonic vehicle computationally.
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