7 ms·
And this: "[G]radual wearing away of the vehicle’s skin as it reached stress tolerance limits was expected. However, larger than anticipated portions of the veh
by akavel 14y ago
And this: "[G]radual wearing away of the vehicle’s skin as it reached stress tolerance limits was expected. However, larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle’s skin peeled from the aerostructure."
And, dated: April 20, 2012
- iandh 14y agoThe "gradual wearing of the vehicle's skin" is called is called ablation. Its a standard way both hyper sonic and reentry vehicles manage heat. Basically the skin boils off creating a pressure wave that the vehicle flights behind. Wikipedia has a good description of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_reentry#Ablative http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_reentry#Ablative