Planetary exploration spacecraft design

Aerodynamics of Trans-Atmospheric Vehicles: A Non-Dimensional Approach

A novel non-dimensional approach to flight dynamics of a trans-atmospheric vehicle is proposed. This approach explicitly takes into account the vertical span of the atmosphere (atmospheric scale height) as well as atmospheric mass load (atmospheric pressure) at the given flight level. As an example of application of this approach, a simple analytic model of the flight dynamics is considered for the powered boost and non-powered glide of a trans-atmospheric vehicle.