Blake
Addon Developer
I'm exploring options for bringing an aircraft back from orbit that does not have heat shields sufficient to withstand the heat of re-entry. That is of course an option, but I want to explore other options as well.
1. Load it up with enough fuel to de-orbit under power.
2. Deploy an inflatable heat shield such as is discussed here: IRVE. This would be a sort of trailing ballute deployed like a parachute to slow the craft down high enough in the atmosphere to avoid excessive heating. Once in the atmosphere you would cut it loose and fly to a landing.
Specific question: Given the specs from the article above (3 m diameter) how would you calculate the 'factor' parameter for CreateVariableDragElement(drag, factor, ref) for a given vessel. The payload size in the article is 15 inches, which is certainly do-able, but I have no idea the actual drag factor that would produce.
Using drag factor values between 200-300 I can bring a vessel back into the atmosphere with a very low heat profile and Gs of around 6-7. I have no idea the size of shield that would require however.
I'm trying to determine if this is anywhere near reality, or completely nuts.
1. Load it up with enough fuel to de-orbit under power.
2. Deploy an inflatable heat shield such as is discussed here: IRVE. This would be a sort of trailing ballute deployed like a parachute to slow the craft down high enough in the atmosphere to avoid excessive heating. Once in the atmosphere you would cut it loose and fly to a landing.
Specific question: Given the specs from the article above (3 m diameter) how would you calculate the 'factor' parameter for CreateVariableDragElement(drag, factor, ref) for a given vessel. The payload size in the article is 15 inches, which is certainly do-able, but I have no idea the actual drag factor that would produce.
Using drag factor values between 200-300 I can bring a vessel back into the atmosphere with a very low heat profile and Gs of around 6-7. I have no idea the size of shield that would require however.
I'm trying to determine if this is anywhere near reality, or completely nuts.
