Author Topic: reentry heating for large ssto  (Read 16694 times)

Offline ssto designer

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reentry heating for large ssto
« on: April 04, 2013, 11:29:24 AM »
Now lets say our large 231 ft long 211 ft wide ssto is going for deorbit burn and upon hitting that first atmosphere does this large surface area dissapate the heat alot different than a small capsule or the shuttle as i have read the heat will be a lot less like in the 900-1200 degree range. The sq ft of this design is 64000 as compared to the tiny heavy profile of the shuttle. This would change how you approched the tps problem greatly. I was studying an mit course with professor cohen and he said the shuttle tiles in some places were 19 pounds per sq ft and the shuttle was like dropping a rock through a 2700 degree blast furnace because it wouldnt shed enough heat through large wing area contact .

Offline jdbenner

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Re: reentry heating for large ssto
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2013, 02:32:54 PM »
I am not shore of the specifics, but I do believe that this approach was suggested prior to manned space flight.  But to make this workable the surface area to mass ratio must be really high to allow radiative cooling.  Since sand size dust burns up on reentry I believe special materials will still be needed to resist the heat.  Of course you could try exotic solutions such as using a superconductive magnet to deflect the hot plasma. 
Joshua D. Benner Associate in Arts and Sciences in General Science

Offline ijuin

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Re: reentry heating for large ssto
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2013, 12:00:38 AM »
The thermal protection requirement depends a lot on the landing method. If we are trying for a high-lift runway landing, then the aerodynamics are going to be a lot like an oversized Shuttle orbiter with a lower mass-to-surface ratio. We might be able to get away with using mostly thermal blankets on upper surfaces other than the wings/tail, and with using the white tiles instead of the black ones on the underside except for the tip of the nose and the leading edge of the wings.

On the other hand, if we are going for a propulsive tail landing (like the DC-X was attempting) or a parachute/water landing, then it can probably be all white material except for the tip of the nose (assuming a nose-first reentry).