MXOD Flight 1: Modular Ground Test Article for Pre-Flight Validation

This paper presents the design and ground-testing methodology of a modular experimental test article developed to generate quantitative pre-flight predictions for the first MXOD flight campaign. The MXOD Flight 1 vehicle will operate at approximately Mach 10 and 30 km altitude, employing a recessed trench assembly and detonation anchor to induce an oblique detonation wave. To provide traceable ground-to-flight analysis, the HADES Mach 8 blowdown wind tunnel is used to evaluate a geometrically similar test article, with matched injection parameters, detonation target conditions, anchor geometry, and materials representative of flight hardware. The ground article preserves the full flight instrumentation hardware including pressure transducers and thermocouples. This augmented with Schlieren imaging, planar laser-induced fluorescence, and Mie scattering. These added diagnostics enable direct assessment of injection penetration, mixing uniformity, and ODW initiation and stability, parameters that are more challenging to resolve in flight. PT/TC data are used in parallel with high-fidelity CFD simulations to produce boundary condition-consistent predictions of flight pressure, heat flux, and detonation behavior.