Why do Apollo, Orion, and Dragon spacecraft reenter the atmosphere with a broad, flat blunt shield rather than a needle-sharp nose? Discover H. Julian Allen’s blunt-body theory that keeps spacecraft from incinerating.
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Why do Apollo, Orion, and Dragon spacecraft reenter the atmosphere with a broad, flat blunt shield rather than a needle-sharp nose? Discover H. Julian Allen’s blunt-body theory that keeps spacecraft from incinerating.
source
Well, the point of re-entry is to bleed off speed, not enter low atmosphere at extreme velocity, a neddle nose would leave too much speed for the parachutes to handle.
"It Needs to be pointy" -Admiral General Aladeen
if you use a nose, you will not slow down at all, rather you will crash into the ground. A blunt heat shield is blunt becaause it slows the craft down by trapping air and aerobraking.
both….. wide plate mounted on on sharp nose
hypersonic missiles useless in military
and what kind of intuition wants to preserve orbital speeds for landing craft?
Ai bot
hypersonic warheads need to remain fast to avoid being destroyed by anti missile defenses
Depends on.. you building a ICBM.. or.. re-entry vehicle 😅
Blunt heat shields are good for conventional rockets as they usually splash down in the ocean which is most of the planet so no need to glide. And slowing down is easier. While a needle noses are good for gliders as they need to keep their speed.