Effect of an Altitude-Dependent Background Atmosphere on Shuttle Plumes

摘要

Time-dependent DSMC calculations are presented to simulate the shuttle burns associated with the NRL SIMPLEX experiments, and to study the interactions between the shuttle exhaust and the neutral species of the background atmosphere. The calculations show that when the altitude-dependence of the background atmosphere is included in the simulation initial conditions, the shape of the shuttle exhaust plume is skewed. This is because the greater atmospheric density and pressure at the lower altitudes creates more drag on the lower part of the plume.