Abstract
Sad moments are rare during space missions, but if one must be found, probably this would the time to return home. Although after a few weeks in space an astronaut is eager to see their family again, leaving the surreal and magical environment of space has saddened each man and woman to have had the privilege of flying in orbit.
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Notes
- 1.
This is true only with the assumption that there are not effects such as atmospheric drag or gravitational perturbations which, if not countered in a timely manner, can reduce the perigee altitude over time and cause the object to re-enter the atmosphere.
- 2.
A forward firing RCS would have disrupted the smoothness of the airflow around the nose with severe consequences for maneuverability and stability during re-entry.
- 3.
Both of these remedies will be explained in greater detail below.
- 4.
Apollo missions returning from the Moon used this “skipping” effect, with the first “dip” slowing the capsule enough for it to be captured for the actual re-entry. In this case the motivation was to ameliorate the thermal loads. As aerobraking, repeated dipping into a planetary atmosphere provides a propellant-free means of lowering the high point of an initial orbit. This was demonstrated by Mars Global Surveyor in 1997.
- 5.
It is worth remembering that drag is proportional to the square of velocity.
- 6.
The reference drag was the value calculated by guidance as optimal for achieving a landing.
- 7.
The fatal re-entry of Columbia on mission STS−107 is obviously excluded.
- 8.
Since the S-turn was most likely to occur in the supersonic regime, this bank was usually limited to 30 degrees in order to protect the ground from a large sonic boom.
- 9.
Note that the NOM label might not have lined up with the nominal tick marks, since the label was static and the tick marks were dynamic and could change position along the scale.
- 10.
In comparison to a nominal aim point, in a close-in aim point scenario the Orbiter was delivered closer to the runway. At the moment of transition to the preflare and inner glide slope it would have more energy than in the nominal scenario. Hence the speedbrake had to be opened wider to provide the Orbiter with the same energy as the nominal scenario at touchdown.
- 11.
This is why the IGS was also called the shallow glide slope.
- 12.
The Orbiter landed at a speed in the range 195–205 KEAS depending on the vehicle weight, which was fast for an aircraft.
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© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Sivolella, D. (2014). Returning home. In: To Orbit and Back Again. Springer Praxis Books. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0983-0_13
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