A hypersonic flow control mechanism has been found by using a near-surface gas discharge as a small flow perturbation and amplifying it by viscous-inviscid interaction. Substantiated evidence was collected from a plasma channel that operated at a hypersonic Mach number of 5.15. This flow control mechanism is simulated by integrating a drift-diffusion weakly ionized air model with compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The side-by-side investigations were performed for flows over surface plasma generated by a pair of embedded electrodes on a sharp leading wedge and on the entrance surface of rectangular and cylindrical constant cross section inlet models. The present effort demonstrates that the effect of a direct current discharge, when amplified by the viscous-inviscid interaction, can become a mechanism for hypersonic flow control. The research results from computational simulations, after being verified with experimental observations, are summarized for a virtual hypersonic leadingedge strake and virtual variable-area hypersonic inlet cowl. Nomenclature B = magnetic field strength D e , D = diffusion coefficients of electron and ion, respectively E = electric field strength e = specific internal energy F = flux vector of conservation equations i, j = unit vector of x, y coordinates J = electric current density n e , n = number density of electron and ion, respectively q = conductive heat transfer U = dependent variables of conservation equations u = velocity vector, uu; v e , = electron and ion number density flux vector = secondary emission coefficient "= electric permittivity = molecular viscosity e , = electron and ion mobility, respectively m = magnetic permeability = density = electric conductivity = shear stress tensor ' = electric potential = viscous-inviscid interaction parameter, M 3 C=Re 1=2