[amsat-bb] Re: New Cubesat - the Ultimate Fox Hunt

[Lee McLamb]

In the case of Delta II second stage tanks some analysis concluded that what 
allows them to survive reenty is that a hole initially burns in one end which 
results in a shape that creates a shockwave.  The shockwave then deflects most 
of the heat around the tank.

Some pictures if you're curious.
http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/reentry/recovered.html

Probably hard to implement on a sub-nanosat scale but suggests another 
approach.

Lee

On Sunday 09 August 2009 15:16:04 Bob Bruninga wrote:

> What if the surface of the re-entry vehicle radically changed during the
> re-entry phase?  As the density of the atomosphere increased, the surface
> area decreases.  An ablative system that instead of burning off a thin skin
> of material as in most re-entry systems, you planned on burning off 95% of
> the original drag volume?  What re-entry profile could be achieved  Could
> we make a golfball core "pinger" that could survive?
>
> With the cheap $8k launches and only 3 month mission life, this idea of
> concentrating on making an interesting mission at the re-entry phase is a
> new opportunity..
>
> The ultimate fox hunt?
>
> Bob, WB4APR
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