“For the first time, researchers based at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have demonstrated the ability to monitor airflow through a supersonic combusting jet engine using an optical sensor instead of a pressure sensor.

This unprecedented level of sensing and control offers engineers of scramjet propulsion engines used in hypersonic prototype aircraft a whole new way to maintain the performance of engines operating above Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound when a shock train is spotted. Aircraft that operate above this threshold are described as being ‘hypersonic.’

‘It seemed logical to us that if an aircraft operates at hypersonic speeds of Mach 5 and higher, it might be preferable to embed sensors that work closer to the speed of light than the speed of sound,’ said Professor Christopher Goyne, director of the UVA Aerospace Research Laboratory, where the research took place.”

From The Debrief.