Randall Clague wrote: > At 11:02 AM 06/15/2002, Ian Woollard wrote: > > However. all my rockets (under 10 tonnes all up) seem to have difficulty > > reaching orbit if they have a diameter much above 20 cm or so. Has anyone > > else found this, or am I messing up my aerodynamics > > No; it's a real scaling effect, the square/cube law. As the vehicle gets > smaller, because the area goes down less rapidly than the volume (and > mass), drag losses become more important relative to gravity losses. It > eventually reaches the point that you have to care about drag.
Of course, the small vehicle is at an advantage in re-entry... for a given velocity/time history, the energy dissipation per unit area on the wing/base/heat-shield/whatever is reduced, which could simplify thermal management. -dave w _______________________________________________ ERPS-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.erps.org/mailman/listinfo/erps-list
