THE PHYSICS OF METEOR ENTRY,

Abstract

A survey is made of recent papers on the physics of meteor entry. The various regimes of luminous flight are defined, and present techniques for obtaining the mass and density of meteoroids are critically discussed. The effect of the assumed mode of heat transfer on the mass loss is shown for two recent fireballs. A relatively simple method for estimating original mass and velocity is presented. It is evident from this paper that many questions remain to be answered, particularly those concerning radiation from the gas and ablated material, before the entry of objects larger than those which produce telescopic meteors can be successfully analyzed. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1964
Accession Number
AD0438437

Entities

People

  • Mary F. Romig

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Astronomical Bodies
  • Energy Transfer
  • Heat Transfer
  • Materials
  • Meteoroids
  • Meteors
  • Radiation

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Hall-Effect Thruster
  • Space - Orbital Debris