Insights into heated, supersonic jet noise gained from writing a review article on launch vehicle noise

Abstract

At the time of writing this abstract, a review article is being finalized for publication in JASA entitled a “Supersonic jet noise from launch vehicles: 50 years since NASA SP-8072,” it describes the current state-of-the-art in rocket and launch vehicle noise research, including how highly heated, supersonic rocket plumes differ from other jets, the origin and nature of the radiated sound from both free and impinging rocket plumes, and techniques for pad noise mitigation during rocket launches. Existing and candidate methods (both empirical and numerical) for modeling rocket launch noise are reviewed, including the ubiquitous NASA SP-8072 methodology, which has formed the cornerstone of many rocket launch noise prediction models over the past half century. This talk will briefly discuss some of the insights gained as a result of writing this review and show how they led to the inevitable conclusion that an entirely new approach to rocket plume noise modeling—one that incorporates the underlying physics of the noise generation mechanisms—must be pursued.