Determination of Reentry Corridor Width Based on Heating.
Abstract
The report contains a two-dimensional study of the reentry corridor for lifting body reentry vehicles with available maximum lift-to-drag ratios of 1, 1.5, 2 and 3. The initial velocity range investigated is from 7.9 km/sec to 23.7 km/sec which encompasses reentry missions from near earth to interplanetary return. Two studies of the reentry corridor are presented: a constant control study where a specific constanc control, angle of attack, was applied from reentry to capture; an optimal control method, differential dynamic programming, was used to determine if the corridor width could be extended from that determined by the constant control by applying an optimal time varying control from reentry to capture. The results of the two studies show that the constant control window is a good approximation of the optimal control window. The boundaries of the reentry corridor are defined by capture and heating rate constraints. (Modified author abstract)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1973
- Accession Number
- AD0768377
Entities
People
- John J. Kessler
- Paul D. Tofte
Organizations
- Air Force Institute of Technology