ii
To my parents, David E. and Diane Mosbacher
iii
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted”
- Plutarc
“We all know what light is, but it is not easy to tell what it is”
- Samuel Johnson
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Robert W. Pitz and Dr. Joseph A. Wehrmeyer for their guidance and encouragement of this work and throughout my studies at Vanderbilt. Special appreciation is expressed to fellow graduate student William L. Easley for assistance in implementing the parameter estimation fitting procedures and most importantly for his friendship. I also wish to extend my utmost respect and sincere appreciation to Robin J. Osborne of ERC at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for her friendship and invaluable assistance throughout the course of this work and during the Staged Combustion Injector Technology (SCIT) test program at MSFC TS 115. The efforts and suggestions of the committee are also truly appreciated.
Support for this work was provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through a Graduate Student Research Program, GSRP, grant with MSFC as the participating NASA center and Larry Leopard and Huu Trinh of TD 61 MSFC as technical monitors. Additional funding to complete the work was provided by the SCIT test program under the direction of Brad Bullard (TD 61 MSFC) and through a Tennessee Space Grant Consortium fellowship.
Finally, I appreciate the many sacrifices my family has made to provide me with the opportunities to fulfill my education. Without their support and love, I would never have succeeded.
