Coming Home by Roger D. Launius & Dennis R. Jenkins

Author:Roger D. Launius & Dennis R. Jenkins
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: jenkins, NASA, coming home, Launius, spaceflight
Publisher: NASA
Published: 2012-10-10T04:00:00+00:00

Image credit: NASA.

Comparison of refractory and ablative shingle structures for a proposed orbital HL-10 thermal protection system.

Hoag’s comments about the landing engines were quite negative. He reported that the shallow approach made it difficult for him to judge where the vehicle would touchdown. He also reported that the nose-high attitude during the entire maneuver forced the pilot to rely on the nose window, which provided poor depth perception, for a long time before touchdown. The consensus was that the weight and complexity of the engine installation and the increased pilot workload outweighed the benefits of landing engines—namely, the ability to make a missed approach, due to shallower descent angles and higher approach speeds.64 It was an important lesson for the future of spaceplanes, and accordingly NASA proceeded with plans for the Space Shuttle to perform a glider landing on a runway.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.