and a step closer to the creation of a so-called plasma shell for supersonic aircraft, which will significantly increase their speed, came Russian physicists. As reported in the Samara branch of the Physics Institute. P. N. Lebedev RAS (SF LPI), the nature, structure and effect of "shock waves in a nonequilibrium medium" that occurs around the wing of an aircraft has been practically clarified.
According to one version, it is thanks to the control of such waves that it will be possible to achieve that unthinkable maneuverability that science fiction writers endow "flying saucers" of aliens from other planets.
"It is very important to understand all the details of the changes in the resistance and structure of the shock wave," says one of the researchers of the effect, postgraduate student of Samara State Aerospace University named after SP Korolev Rinat Galimov. aircraft ".
"By controlling this flow with the help of a magnetic field, it will be possible to control the aircraft itself, but for this it is necessary to create a plasma flow in the right place and with the necessary properties," said Galimov, who became one of the main developers of this topic.
For the work done, the young scientist received a medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences at the end of April this year. "Work on the creation of a plasma shell has been going on for over 20 years. One of the fundamental in this area is the discovery of Russian scientists with the participation of AI Klimov, made back in the late 1980s. This can be called the start of the birth of a new science - plasma aerodynamics.", - says the work manager, head. Theoretical Sector SF LPI, Doctor of Phys.-Math. Sci. Nonna Molevich.
At present, physicists in Samara have started to study the structure of the shock wave in chemically active mixtures. The work also found interesting astrophysical applications. It turned out that this approach is applicable to the study of nonequilibrium interstellar gas, therefore, research in this direction will help shed light on the nature of some astrophysical phenomena, ITAR-TASS reports.
