Heat Shield Occlusion

[At4851]

I know the heat shields occlude parts behind them in the shape of a narrow cone, and I think narrow means pointy.  And Ive seen that it changes based on speed, but how does it change?  Does it get narrower, pointier, longer?

[Foxster]

Ah, good question and one that I've never found an answer too. 

For design purposes, I always assume it is in fact a cylinder rather than a cone and that works out OK for all the craft I have built. If it is a cone then the sides are not far off being parallel. 

By the way, don't get confused with the heating visual effects. There seems little correlations between them and the actual occlusion.  

By the way (2), the occlusion is only of heat. Drag/atmosphere blows straight through to parts that are not coupled and the same size (or joined with tapered parts if they are different sizes).   

Edited February 10, 2018 by Foxster

[At4851]

Yeah the drag thing threw me off for a while. 

When my program gets more money I might test this.  If I do Ill post what happens