The benefits of using a hypersonic waverider for spacecraft trajectory modification are presented. A waverider is a hypersonic vehicle specifically designed so that the undersurface bow shock is attached to the leading edge, which provides for the highest known lift-to-drag ratios achievable at high Mach number flight. Several viable space missions are suggested which could use such configurations for low-drag aeroassisted maneuvers in planetary atmospheres. It is shown that large changes in the spacecraft velocity vector can be accomplished with acceptably small losses in energy due to drag using a waverider aeroshell. The primary advantage of an aeroassisted maneuver is suggested by comparison with a traditional gravity assist trajectory. Some scaling laws are presented for comparing waveriders designed for different planetary atmospheres, and it is shown that the compositional differences among the terrestrial planets have a minimal impact on waverider design.


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    Title :

    Use of High Lift-to-Drag Hypersonic Vehicles for AERO-Assisted Orbital Maneuvering


    Contributors:
    M. J. Lewis (author)

    Publication date :

    1990


    Size :

    13 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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