Sharp Edge Flight Experiment-II Instrumentation Challenges and Selected Flight Data

The Sharp Edge Flight Experiment II was launched from the Andoya rocket range in Norway on 22 June 2012, consisting of an extensively instrumented scientific payload on top of a two stage rocket configuration. With an apogee of about 177 km, the vehicle achieved flight velocities up to 2790 m/s corresponding to Mach numbers up to 9.3. More than 96% of the pressure sensors provided excellent data during the ascent and descent phases. Measured pressure data from sensors at different locations of the scientific payload show consistent results concerning the aerodynamic behavior of the vehicle along the complete trajectory. Pressure fluctuations measured during flight show an excellent correlation to angle-of-attack variations. Calculated pressure coefficients from a computational fluid dynamics analysis at selected trajectory points are in good agreement with the measured pressure data.