System and Method for Cooling a Leading Edge of a High Speed Vehicle

A hypersonic aircraft includes one or more leading edge assemblies that are designed to cool the leading edge of certain portions of the hypersonic aircraft that are exposed to high thermal loads, such as extremely high temperatures and/or thermal gradients. Specifically, the leading edge assemblies may include an outer wall tapered to a leading edge or stagnation point. A coolant supply may be in fluid communication with at least one fluid passageway that passes through the outer wall to deliver a flow of cooling fluid to the stagnation point. In addition, a nose cover is positioned at least partially over or within the at least one fluid passageway and is formed from a material that ablates or melts when the leading edge is exposed to a predetermined critical temperature, the nose cover being configured for restricting the flow of coolant until the nose cover is ablated or melted away.