A method is described in which drag increase due to angle of attack is used to decelerate a slender, high-ballistic-coefficient reentry vehicle for recovery. The angle of attack and drag increase are produced by the application of a controlled wind-fixed yaw moment, which causes dynamic undamping of the angle of attack. A small yaw moment can induce large circular coning motion for which the drag is predictable. It is shown that sufficient deceleration for recovery can be obtained after the vehicle has experienced high stagnation pressures for nosetip and heat-shield testing. Practical implementation of the recovery system is discussed.
Angle-of-Attack Control of Drag for Slender Reentry Vehicle Recovery
1975
42 pages
Report
No indication
English
Spacecraft Trajectories & Flight Mechanics , Missile Trajectories & Reentry Dynamics , Slender bodies , Test vehicles , Hypersonic characteristics , Atmosphere entry , Recovery , Deceleration , Angle of attack , Drag , Reentry vehicles , Ablation , Nose cones , Instrumentation , Equations of motion , Systems engineering , Mathematical analysis