Manned Spacecraft Design Principles

Chapter 8

Spacecraft Flight Mechanics

Abstract

The flight mechanics of manned spacecraft during hypersonic entry are developed under the assumption of Newtonian theory for normal stresses and the flat plate reference enthalpy (FPRE) method for shear stresses. Forces and moments in the hypersonic flight regime are primarily influenced by normal stresses and Newtonian theory depends on local flow deflection. Therefore, a unit problem involving a discrete area of the surface of a spacecraft defined by its outward unit normal vector and the impinging flow defined by the velocity vector serves to define the pressure force on that area. Thus, a relatively complex spacecraft design may be modeled as a collection of surface panels and simple summations ...