The Not So Deadly Re-Entry

[Moesly_Armlis]

After playing around in RSS I managed to launch Jebediah into LEO from Cape Canaveral.

The re-entry phase was a lot more spicy than was expected. With some of my favorite mods installed (RealChutes, ProceduralFairings, KER, FAR & DRE), I was expecting some trouble but not total destruction due to my ignorance of re-entry methods.

Currently I am using the controls to hold the vehicle in a positive lift. The vehicle's COM should be offset from centre and provide some lift without the use of controls. Rolling is used for changing lift. And a little skip upward as the vehicle enters the heavy atmosphere to provide relief for the heatshield.

Plenty of my vehicles have had undesired stable trim attitudes resulting in non-recoverable situations. Now I always seperate my command module.

Will the kerbals now have less to worry about? As designs for Lunar fly-by and Lunar landing are initiated.

The mod Procedural Parts looks like a good choice instead of using the stock engines and tanks that were used for my first low earth orbit in hard career mode.

P.S. not sure if the Earth was a dark red place back in 1968

[Motokid600]

As far as I know most pods in RSS/RO ( your are playing with RO as well, yes? ) have an option for descent mode that moves the CoM. The FASA Apollo capsule flies like a dream.

Ballistic reentry 9 times out of 10 will kill your crew. However a skip isn't necessary coming from LEO, but you still want some lift to keep the pod in the upper atmosphere as long as possible so when you hit the thicker air your moving slower.

Knowing this... I still had trouble last night getting the right reentry angle of 6.5 degrees. I dont know how to do this. All i know is trial and error with my periapsis until its where it needs to be to provide one skip when coming back from the moon. So... Is there anything I can do to get a reentry angle value? That'd be great.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Motokid600

[roosterr]

Excellent point and experiment. Most folks dont realize that the Apollo command module did just as you describe. Its descent path had to be altered like a roller coaster as it reentered earths atmosphere, so it would have enough space to slow down to a reasonable speed without too many G's on the astronauts. So they did "steer" the capsule with subtle rolls allowing the off-center COM to angle the heat shield in such a way to create lift, so it could rise and descend like a zig zag maneuver to bleed off speed.

They will likely do the same with the Orion capsule I imagine.