Nitric oxide (NO) planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) has been use to investigate the hypersonic flow over a flat plate with and without a 2-mm (0.08-in) radius hemispherical trip. In the absence of the trip, for all angles of attack and two different Reynolds numbers, the flow was observed to be laminar and mostly steady. Boundary layer thicknesses based on the observed PLIF intensity were measured and compared with a CFD computation, showing agreement. The PLIF boundary layer thickness remained constant while the NO flowrate was varied by a factor of 3, indicating non-perturbative seeding of NO. With the hemispherical trip in place, the flow was observed to be laminar but unsteady at the shallowest angle of attack and lowest Reynolds number and appeared vigorously turbulent at the steepest angle of attack and highest Reynolds number. Laminar corkscrew-shaped vortices oriented in the streamwise direction were frequently observed to transition the flow to more turbulent structures
