AERODYNAMIC EFFECTS OF METEORITES

Abstract

The phenomenon of deceleration and intensive luminescence of meteorites occurring at altitudes of 100 km or lower was studied. At such altitudes the length of the free run of air molecules is in the centimeter-millimeter range and is much larger than the particles of meteorites. Therefore, the motion of meteorites may be considered in terms of discrete collisions between (over)AIR MOLECULES AND METEORITIC PARTICLES. At high velocities (18-20 km/sec) each collision dislodges a number of molecules or atoms from the crystal lattice of the meteorite, thus producing a microexplosion on the meteorite surface. Part of the dislodged mass evaporates, and the remainder is emitted in groups of combined lattice particles. This process increases the braking effect or the drag coefficient. Assuming that the velocity of the ejected mass is less than the speed corresponding to the vaporization temperature, and equation is derived for the conservation of energy and impulse for a given system of coordinates. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 23, 1960
Accession Number
AD0250079

Entities

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Coefficients
  • Collisions
  • Crystal Lattices
  • Crystals
  • Deceleration
  • Equations
  • Luminescence
  • Mathematics
  • Meteorites
  • Molecules
  • Particles
  • Transition Temperature
  • Vaporization

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.