Aerothermal Heating for Satellite Reentry Conditions

Abstract

Equations are presented which provide heating rates for objects reentering the Earth's atmosphere. The relationships are appropriate for estimating the survival or aerothermal breakup of a reentering vehicle. The relationships presented in this report predict heating which is an order of magnitude less than predicted by existing theory. The results presented in this report are based on numerous satellite reentry experiments conducted over the last three decades.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 22, 2004
Accession Number
ADA428861

Entities

People

  • Richard G. Stern

Organizations

  • The Aerospace Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Heating
  • Air Force
  • Aircrafts
  • Alaska
  • Apogees
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Atmosphere Entry
  • Atmospheres
  • Earth Orbits
  • Elliptical Orbits
  • Equations
  • Escape Velocity
  • Heating
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Solar Panels
  • Trajectories
  • Vehicles

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris