PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF REENTRY PROBLEMS

Abstract

Entry trajectories for vehicles without and with lift are investigated. The existence and the significance of the second peak deceleration in reentry trajectories are presented. The second peak may be greater than the first one. For a given entry velocity, the first peak deceleration can be a discontinuous function of entry angle. With proper lift modulation of the body-type vehicle, i.e. by changing the angle of attack of the vehicle, the range of the entry angle for non-skip trajectories can be increased significantly, while the first peak deceleration remains less than 5 times the gravitational acceleration. A constant elevation maneuver is presented and its effectiveness in reducing the second peak deceleration is explained. This maneuver, followed by a constant lift modulation, permits the control of the point of landing over a wide range. The practical application of the rate of change of deceleration in deciding the proper lift modulation is demonstrated. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 01, 1961
Accession Number
AD0262452

Entities

People

  • Antonio Ferri
  • Lu Ting

Organizations

  • New York University Tandon School of Engineering

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Deceleration
  • Elevation
  • Maneuvers
  • Modulation
  • Motion
  • Trajectories

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Theoretical Analysis.