Date of Award

6-2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

First Advisor

Kerry D. Hicks, PhD

Abstract

This research effort develops a program using MATLAB to solve the equations of motion for atmospheric reentry and analyzes the validity of the program for use as a tool to expeditiously predict reentry profiles. The reentry vehicle is modeled as a point mass with constant aerodynamic properties as defined by the user. The equations of motion for reentry are based on the two-body problem. The atmosphere is modeled as a single layer exponentially decreasing in density. The MATLAB program has the ability to derive the initial trajectory conditions from the position and velocity relative to the rotating surface of the Earth, the Earth-centered inertial position and velocity, or the classic orbital elements. The program is compared to previously established programs in order to validate its accuracy and numerical stability when predicting various reentry profiles to include sub-orbital, super-circular and hyperbolic trajectories as well as wide ranges of aerodynamic properties.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GSS-ENY-06-M08

DTIC Accession Number

ADA453604

Download

Share

COinS