Aero-assisted orbital transfer vehicles are analyzed. The aerodynamic characteristics over the flight profile and three- and six-degree-of-freedom performance analyses were determined. The important results, to date, are: (1) the aerodynamic preliminary analysis system, an interactive computer program, used to predict the aerodynamics (performance, stability, and control) for these vehicles; (2) the performance capability, e.g., maximum inclination change, maximum heating rate, and maximum sensed acceleration, can be determined using continuum aerodynamics only; (3) guidance schemes can be developed that allow for errors in atmospheric density prediction, mispredicted trim angle of attack, and off-nominal atmospheric interface conditions, even for vehicles with a low lift-to-drag ratio; and (4) multiple pass trajectories can be used to reduce the maximum heating rate.
Performance assessment of aero-assisted orbital transfer vehicles
1984-04-01
Conference paper
No indication
English
Aero-assisted orbital transfer vehicles utilizing atmosphere ingestion
DSpace@MIT | 2001
|Aero-Assisted Orbital Transfer Vehicle (AOTV)
NTIS | 1987
|Aero-Assisted Orbital Transfer Vehicle (AOTV)
NTRS | 1987
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