Causes, Effects and Diagnostic Measurements of the Reentry Plasma Sheath
Abstract
During entry into the earth's atmosphere of a manned or unmanned space vehicle, a plasma sheath envelops the vehicle because of shock heating of the ambient gases and ablation of the heat shield material. This plasma sheath causes the interruption of radio communications between the space vehicle and ground based stations commonly referred to as the reentry communications blackout. To solve the blackout problem, a knowledge of the reentry plasma sheath properties (electron density, electron collision frequency, electron temperature and plasma stand-off distance) is required. A summary of the causes and effects of the reentry plasma sheath is presented in this report together with a discussion of reentry plasma diagnostic techniques and review of the flight experiments performed to determine the properties of the reentry plasma.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1970
- Accession Number
- AD0718428
Entities
People
- James P. Rybak
Organizations
- Colorado State University