Computational Notebooks · Hypersonic Aerodynamics
A from-scratch reconstruction of NASA's X-43A Hyper-X research vehicle — built from published flight-test geometry, driven by real oblique-shock theory and Sutton–Graves heating, run for the two actual flight points that hold the world air-breathing speed record.
01 — Geometry
Every dimension below traces back to NASA's own published Hyper-X specifications — not an aesthetic approximation. The forebody ramp angles are the actual compression surface that doubled as the scramjet's inlet.
Reconstructed lifting-body geometry — perspective / planform / profile / propulsion views
02 — Flow Physics
Three compression ramps fold the freestream down to engine-face conditions through a chain of oblique shocks — solved here with the real θ–β–M relations, not a lookup table. Drag the toggle to compare both recorded flights.
Roughly double the heat load at Mach 10 — matching NASA's own assessment of why the third vehicle needed upgraded carbon–carbon leading edges.
03 — Companion Notebook
The inlet compresses; the nozzle expands. A second notebook walks through method-of-characteristics and quasi-1D nozzle design for the expansion side of a scramjet cycle — sizing the diverging section that turns combustion-chamber pressure back into thrust.
Quasi-1D isentropic relations size the area ratio for a target exit Mach number; method-of-characteristics then contours the wall to deliver shock-free, uniform exit flow — the same logic that shapes the X-43A's aftbody into an external nozzle.
Open Supersonic Nozzle Design →04 — Renders
From early duck-bill concept sketches to the final flight-data-driven reconstruction.
Run the analysis yourself
Opens directly in Google Colab. Outputs save to /content/output_data/.
Geometry reconstruction, oblique-shock forebody solver, Fay–Riddell heating, Mach 7 / Mach 10 flight comparison.
Open in Colab 02Quasi-1D and method-of-characteristics nozzle contouring for the expansion side of the propulsion cycle.
Open in Colab