An investigation has been made of point return of a vehicle with a lift-to-drag ratio of 1/2, returning from a lunar mission. It was found that the available longitudinal and lateral range allowed considerable tolerances in entry conditions for a point return. Longitudinal range capability for a vehicle that was allowed to skip to an altitude not exceeding 400 miles was about 3-1/2 times greater than the range capability of a vehicle that was restricted to remain in the atmosphere after entry. Longitudinal range is very sensitive to changes in both velocity and flight-path angle at the bottom of the first pull-out and at exit. An investigation showed that after a skip a vehicle could be placed in a circular orbit for a relatively modest weight penalty. A skip maneuver was found to have no effect on lateral range when the roll was initiated at a velocity near satellite speed after the vehicle had re-entered the atmosphere. However, when the roll was initiated at the earliest possible time along the undershoot boundary, lateral range was increased by a factor of about 2-1/2. The tolerable errors in time of arrival and in inclination of the orbital plane at point of entry were greater for the skip trajectory than for the no-skip trajectory.


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    Titel :

    Point Return from a Lunar Mission for a Vehicle that Maneuvers Within the Earth's Atmosphere


    Beteiligte:
    S. C. Sommer (Autor:in) / B. J. Short (Autor:in)

    Erscheinungsdatum :

    1961


    Format / Umfang :

    34 pages


    Medientyp :

    Report


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch