Plane and rocket aerodynamics

[Sam-urai]

Hi guys, I am trying to do some research for a science project which is based around aerodynamics. I have been finding lots of examples and explanations about how to get the various Co-efficient for planes but I can't seem to find much on rockets. Allot of the examples are talking about aerodynamics on an airfoil, a plane wing. I was wondering if that same idea translates onto a rocket for working out it's drag and lift co-efficient etc.

[Wjolcz]

I really don't think lift coefficient is taken into account when designing a rocket. As long as they don't have control surfaces, that is. Unless we are talking about boostback boosters like Falcon 9. That one actually glides for a while before landing.

[mikegarrison]

6 minutes ago, Wjolcz said:

I really don't think lift coefficient is taken into account when designing a rocket. As long as they don't have control surfaces, that is. Unless we are talking about boostback boosters like Falcon 9. That one actually glides for a while before landing.

Typically rockets don't have much angle of attack, as far as I know, so lift is probably not a big factor. They would have body lift if they did have an angle of attack, however.

For most of the flight, drag is probably dominated by wave drag due to the high mach numbers. And once they get to high enough altitudes, drag stops being about aerodynamics and starts being about mean free path. It becomes more appropriate to treat the atmosphere as a bunch of molecules than as a fluid.

(These are just guesses.)

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/17093/is-aerodynamic-lift-ever-useful-in-rocket-flight

Some other responses to a similar question. They pretty much agree with my guess.

Edited August 7, 2019 by mikegarrison