On Mon, 12 Aug 2002, Bill Clawson wrote:
> So what does the sharp spike do exactly? I could speculate, but I would
> prefer a less speculative answer.
Basically, at supersonic speeds its tip (which is often a small disk or a
small cone rather than just a sharp point) produces a shock wave that's a
lot like the one you'd get off a nose that length, giving much of the
aerodynamic effect of a long nose. The effect is enhanced if you steadily
vent a bit of gas into the "nose" volume around the spike (thus increasing
the resemblance to what we normally call an aerospike).
It's not as good as actually *having* a long nose, but it's useful if you
don't want to do that for some reason. The Tridents use it because a long
nose would take up length in their launch tubes that they'd prefer to use
for fuel.
Henry Spencer
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