Low-Tech Aerobraking?

[Casualnaut]

I am quite early in my career, so I pose the follow question:

If I have access to small radiator panels and a heat shield, should I aerobrake? If so, should I design my craft a certain way or do I just attach a heat shield to the front of my craft?

[Kyle Worden]

What body are you aerobraking on? Early career makes me think Kerbin, and then you only need a heat-shield for coming back from either of the moons, probably only 80 units of ablator for Mun, and 120-140 should be good for minmus (on a 1.25m)

If its duna, I would do a retrograde maneuver, its atmosphere is so thin that an aerocapture is difficult in early career.

[Ohm is Futile]

1 hour ago, Casualnaut said:

small radiator panels

No. Radiators are not meant to shed heat during atmospheric flight. If you want to aerobrake, use a heat shield, use airbrakes (depending on the context), use wings and control surfaces with sufficient heat tolerance, but do not use radiators.

[Casualnaut]

14 hours ago, Ohm is Futile said:

Radiators are not meant to shed heat during atmospheric flight.

Oh, well thanks for telling me. No wonder my earlier aerobrakes (Sandbox) always blew up.

[Ohm is Futile]

Aerobraking maneuvers are a difficult balancing act, typically. You want to go low enough to brake within an acceptable time frame (one pass for aerocapture) but not so low you burn up and/or crash. That altitude highly depends on the amount of drag your vehicle can generate and how much heat it can survive. That means you should really be wary of something having a lower max temperature than the rest of your ship and it not being in a service bay or protected somehow. If you plan on aerobraking, part temperature values are always worth looking at.

Now, if you don't need a capture on the first pass there is always the option of quicksaving before the maneuver that will set your braking altitude (aka periapsis) and messing around until you get something survivable and simply make multiple passes.