Hisham Ali News

CU Boulder hypersonics research spotlighted by The Economist

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 18:49:09 +0000

CU Boulder hypersonics research spotlighted by The Economist Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/26/2024 - 11:49

Hisham Ali's work to design and build a plasma wind tunnel for hypersonics research is being featured in The Economist.

The article discusses a presentation Ali made last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science on magnetohydrodynamics -- the study of electrically conducting fluids like plasma, research critical to the advancement of vehicles that travel at hypersonic speeds.

Plasma is generated when objects travel at such speeds through the atmosphere.

Ali is an assistant professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences and an expert in plasma physics.

He is studying ways to manipulate plasma flows to control the trajectory of crafts moving at hypersonic velocities.

Read the full article at The Economist...

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7 reasons to get excited about CU Boulder in space

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:11:43 +0000

7 reasons to get excited about CU Boulder in space Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/13/2023 - 11:11

This year, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) celebrates its 75th anniversary—marking 75 years of CU Boulder’s exploration of space, from the fringes of Earth’s atmosphere to the wide expanse of interstellar space.

The university is just getting started. In the year ahead, scientists and engineers from across campus will take part in the first U.S. landing on the moon’s south pole, launch several pint-sized satellites into orbit around Earth, and begin a journey to Jupiter’s dark and frigid moon Europa.

Follow along to learn what the next year holds in store for CU Boulder in space.

What goes up...

The festivities are scheduled to kick off Oct. 29 as a team from LASP launches a first-of-its-kind instrument in space from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico—to investigate the fallout from an explosion that roiled a corner of the galaxy roughly 15,000 years ago.

The launch is part of the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment (INFUSE). The mission will shoot a rocket to about 250 miles above Earth’s surface, where it will point its instrument up into space, before falling back to Earth.

INFUSE is trying to learn more about the structure of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, a shock wave that was formed millennia ago as a star died in the constellation Cygnus the Swan.

And don’t miss these other upcoming missions that include scientists and engineers from LASP: SNIFS, EXIS and TSIS-2 will probe the sun and its radiation, while GOES-U will monitor weather on Earth and in space.

Image: Cygnus Loop (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Historic return

Well, hello, moon. Long time no see. CU Boulder researchers will soon take part in an effort to land science payloads from the United States on the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo era.

The event is part of NASA’s inaugural Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission. On Nov. 15, a NOVA-C lander built by the company Intuitive Machines is scheduled to launch for the moon’s south pole. Aboard will be an instrument called Radio wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the photoElectron Sheath (ROLSES). ROLSES, made up of four antennas, will map out the layer of charged particles that hovers just about the surface of the moon—and could pose risks to future lunar astronauts.

“We are going to the surface of the moon for the first time in over 50 years,” said Jack Burns, a co-investigator on the instrument and professor emeritus in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences.

Image: Moon's south pole (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Happy birthday, MAVEN

A special spacecraft is celebrating a big birthday this year. Nov. 18 marks the 10th anniversary of the 2013 launch of NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Several of the instruments on the spacecraft were designed and built by scientists and engineers in Boulder at LASP.

MAVEN is helping to solve a Red Planet mystery: How did Mars, which was likely covered in oceans billions of years ago, lose all of its water? Data from the spacecraft revealed that radiation from the sun stripped away the planet’s atmosphere over time—transforming it into the cold and desolate landscape it is today.

MAVEN is still orbiting the planet and trying to unlock Mars’ secrets today.

Image: Artist's depiction of MAVEN at Mars. (Credit: NASA/GSFC)

Whoosh!

Hear that? A new, high-tech engineering lab is heading for campus—at speeds of nearly Mach 30, or more than 20,000 miles per hour.

In July, the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences kicked off construction on a new hypersonics research facility. This plasma wind tunnel will allow scientists to recreate what happens to spacecraft when they smack into Earth’s atmosphere at incredible speeds, heating up to temperatures of more than 17,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The new wind tunnel is the brainchild of Assistant Professor Hisham Ali, and construction should wrap up in 2024. Now that’s fast.

Image: Hisham Ali

Shadowy science

In the coming year, two eerie astronomical events are heading for North America: On Oct. 14, 2023, parts of the western U.S. will witness an annular, or “ring of fire,” solar eclipse. Then in April 2024, a total solar eclipse will similarly pass above swaths of Texas, Arkansas and more.

To celebrate these rare, and dark, events, the Fiske Planetarium has launched a series of videos and outreach activities called Science through Shadows. In addition to featuring eclipses, the program will explore the unique physics that scientists can explore during “occultations” and “transits”—or when one celestial body, like a moon or planet, passes in front of another, like a star, briefly blocking out its light. The project is led by Douglas Duncan, professor emeritus of astrophysical and planetary sciences, and John Keller, director of Fiske.

“There is science that can be done during eclipses, occultations and transits,” Keller said. “One technique for discovering planets in other systems is by detecting them as they transit in front of stars."

CubeSats galore

Little satellites. Big science.

In the coming year or more, scientists at CU Boulder are scheduled to launch four CubeSats into space. These petite spacecraft are no bigger than a toaster oven but will collect scientific data that far outstrip their size. They include Climatology of Anthropogenic and Natural VLF wave Activity in Space (CANVAS) led by Robert Marshall, associate professor of aerospace engineering. CANVAS will orbit Earth, tracking the bursts of energy that fly into space when lightning strikes—which happens a whopping 50 times per second on our planet.

Learn more about CANVAS and these other, upcoming CubeSat missions: AEPEX, MAXWELL and SPRITE.

Image: Artist's depiction of the Supernova Remnants and Proxies for ReIonization Testbed Experiment (SPRITE) CubeSat. (Credit: LASP)

Flagship launch

In October 2024, Colorado’s big year in space is scheduled to end with a bang—a literal one—as NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft blasts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This flagship mission will carry with it a roughly $50 million instrument called the SUrface Dust Analyzer (SUDA) designed and built at LASP.

They’re going on a long journey: Europa Clipper will travel nearly 2 billion miles to Jupiter and its moon Europa—a body about the size of Earth’s moon where a thick layer of ice surrounds a deep ocean. There, the mission will explore whether Europa harbors conditions that could support living organisms.

It’s a good beginning for CU Boulder’s next 75 years of space exploration.

Image: SUDA in a cleanroom at LASP. (Credit: Glenn Asakawa/CU Boulder)

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Construction underway on plasma wind tunnel to advance hypersonics

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Jul 2023 17:07:31 +0000

Construction underway on plasma wind tunnel to advance hypersonics Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/27/2023 - 11:07

Jeff Zehnder

Hisham Ali

The sounds of construction permeate the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Building at the University of Colorado Boulder. The bang of hammers. The wail of electric saws. A new laboratory for a plasma wind tunnel is taking shape.

The project is the vision of Assistant Professor Hisham Ali. It will allow his team to study the conditions of atmospheric reentry, when a spacecraft returning to Earth can hit speeds of Mach 30 and experience temperatures in excess of 10,000 degrees Kelvin (17,540 degrees Fahrenheit).

The aerospace building is still new, having only been completed in 2019, but the research Ali hopes to conduct has special requirements that necessitate renovations. It has taken more than a year of preparation just to begin the construction.

“We’re building a novel system. It’s not a turnkey purchase, and determining all the requirements was challenging,” Ali said. “What do we need for this work? What equipment is necessary – vacuum pumps are required, but what models meet our performance needs? Then the specs go to an architect so they can do layout with an electrical engineer. Then we worked with a mechanical engineering contractor to determine how much extra cooling we need in the room. It’s very involved.”

Electricity is a particular demand. A major component of the project is a high-power radio frequency (RF) generator that can draw over 100 kilowatts during operation. That comes on top of three 30-kilowatt vacuum pumps and an air compressor and chilled water pump that utilize over 25 kilowatts. All of these items use more power on their own than the average U.S. household consumes at any time.

“What we’re doing here at CU Boulder is studying this high-temperature hypersonic plasma environment. To study how we interact with this plasma electromagnetically, we have to simulate these extreme conditions in our laboratory,” Ali said.

In addition to moving walls and adding new conduit and cooling lines, the construction crew must also reinforce the floor in the lab to accommodate a mezzanine structure that will hold more than 20,000 pounds of equipment.

Ali joined the aerospace faculty at CU Boulder in 2022. Since then, design for the laboratory has been his major focus. He is excited at the possibilities the lab present both for advancing science and as a teaching environment.

“Construction of this inside an academic building means we can integrate really well with the educational program, with student work and classes,” Ali said. “One of the advantages of an RF plasma facility is you can run the plasma jet for hours in a continuous fashion. We plan to do experiments as often as possible.”

Construction began on July 17. It should take a little more than six months to complete.

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Building a one-of-a-kind plasma wind tunnel to advance hypersonics at CU Boulder

Anonymous — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 22:25:01 +0000

Building a one-of-a-kind plasma wind tunnel to advance hypersonics at CU Boulder Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/21/2023 - 15:25

Jeff Zehnder

Hisham Ali is pushing the limits of plasma physics and hypersonics in his lab on campus to advance a nationally important area of science and engineering.

Ali, an assistant professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder, studies magnetohydrodynamics. It is the investigation of the magnetic properties and behavior of electrically conducting fluids, such as the plasmas generated during extremely high-speed flight – a critical area for hypersonic vehicles.

“It’s fluid mechanics, plasma physics, fluids interacting electrically. We’re specifically looking at what happens when a spacecraft reenters the atmosphere. There is a tremendous need for funding hypersonic research as a nation,” Ali said.

Ali’s team is currently building a plasma wind tunnel, a highly complex undertaking to conduct experimental research of the conditions space vehicles experience during atmospheric reentry.

“We have a unique opportunity. These kinds of facilities don’t come online very often. We here at CU Boulder as well as others in the outside scientific and engineering community are very excited,” Ali said.

As he and his team endeavor to complete construction and begin experiments in the plasma wind tunnel, they are also conducting mission design and computational trajectory work.

“It’s modeling, mission design, and trajectory work for a Neptune plasma-assisted aerocapture probe in addition to the work on the wind tunnel. We’re very busy,” Ali said.

The work is a culmination of sorts for Ali. Growing up, he decided early to become an aerospace engineer, but despite excelling in science and math it was not a sure thing.

“My parents emigrated from Sudan when I was a year old. They had earned doctorates in Sudan in veterinary medicine, but that didn’t carry over to the United States and they had to re-enroll in graduate school here. Both of my parents worked nights and weekends in fast food to support us for most of the 1990s while they completed their studies. When I earned scholarships to go to college, it was very helpful to us,” Ali said.

He successfully earned the National Achievement Scholarship, a college fellowship designed to increase opportunities for Black students. Ali said as an honor intended for specific groups, there were some challenges.

“People said it wasn’t fair because they thought the bar was lower for the Achievement Scholarship compared to the National Merit Scholarship,” Ali said. “They’re both very competitive, and then I also received the National Merit Scholarship. There’s sometimes a perception you’re not as good.”

He then attended the University of Alabama and participated in internships at NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville. Ali enjoyed research, but was not sure if graduate school was for him.

“Thankfully, the people I knew at NASA encouraged me to apply to graduate school and to NASA graduate fellowships,” Ali said. “I also had a very supportive undergraduate research advisor at the University of Alabama. They told me I was good enough.”

Ali went on to Georgia Tech, where he earned his master’s and PhD in aerospace engineering and met his wife, who has a PhD of her own in biomedical engineering. They then came to Colorado so she could earn another doctorate in medicine at the CU Anschutz Campus. Ali worked for the Aerospace Corporation in Colorado Springs for a year before officially joining CU Boulder in 2022.

Ali said he also hopes to enhance the environment for other budding Black engineers during his time on campus and in the department.

“I had mentors who happened to be Black who said there’s a place for you. Not only is this for you, you’re needed here. I want to do that for others,” Ali said.

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Meet Hisham Ali, Assistant Professor

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Meet Hisham Ali, Assistant Professor Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/12/2022 - 00:00

Hisham Ali joined Smead Aerospace full time as a new assistant professor in January 2022. Prior appointments include being a member of technical staff at the Aerospace Corporation in the Astrodynamics Department, Colorado Springs and a research faculty member in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Hisham’s dissertation work focused on magnetohydrodynamic interaction for atmospheric entry plasmas and included both analytical and experimental approaches, including the development of a continuous, artificially ionized, low-density supersonic plasma wind-tunnel.

His technical background spans a range of aerospace engineering disciplines and includes Visiting Space Technologist tenures at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Langley Research Center, and Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hisham’s current research interests are in space systems, magnetohydrodynamics, hypersonics, and plasma physics.

What has been your favorite work or personal project so far?
Too many work projects to list, but on the personal side, I’ve been putting together a dual-projector passive 3D system at home for some time and have a preliminary version working. I’m a bit of an optics / projection enthusiast, having studied polarization and refraction of light for material stress analysis during my previous undergraduate research. My wife tells me I have too many projectors to tinker with at home. :)

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to and why?
Australia for six months with my wife during our engagement in 2018. I learned a lot and enjoyed the beauty and environment (Koalas are cute and I don’t like Vegemite). I also got a chance to visit and give a talk to The University of Queensland Centre for Hypersonics in Brisbane, Australia while there, meeting many faculty and students working directly in my fields of interests (hypersonics, aerospace plasmas, magnetohydrodynamics) and engaging in stimulating conversations about collaborations of mutual interest.

What’s something most people don’t know about you?
In addition to performing in the UA Million Dollar Band, I was also member of the UA Concert Band for several years during my undergraduate studies, as well as Marching, Concert, and Jazz band during my high school years, all on my venerable student Alto-Saxophone originally purchased second-hand prior to the beginning of my 7th grade school year—It’s quite literally traveled the country (and world, performing internationally with UA’s Million Dollar Marching Band in Italy during my college years) with me during my time as a student.

What is an ordinary moment in your life that brings you joy?
The daily bath routine with our (just over two year old) son. We’ve been playing the same music (the Lion King movie soundtrack) since before he was a year old and it’s been pure joy to watch him grow and develop with the music, singing and dancing along to more of the words with each passing day.

How are getting involved and/or hoping to get involved within the CEAS community?
Through collaborations, mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, and service opportunities.

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Welcoming three new faculty to Smead Aerospace

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 22:19:33 +0000

Welcoming three new faculty to Smead Aerospace Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/24/2021 - 16:19

The Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder is welcoming three new faculty members. Meet the team and see why we're so excited about these talented new hires:

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