Maximum Aerodynamic Force on an Ascending Space Vehicle

摘要

The March 2010 issue of The Physics Teacher includes a great article by Metz and Stinner on the kinematics and dynamics of a space shuttle launch.' Within those pages is a brief mention of an event known in the language of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as "maximum dynamic pressure" (called simply "Max.AirPressure" in the article), where the combined effect of air density and the shuttle's speed produce the greatest aerodynamic stress on the vehicle as it ascends through the atmosphere toward orbit. Official commentary during a launch2 refers to this point in the ascent with language such as "space shuttle main engines throttling back as vehicle enters area of maximum dynamic pressure" and occurs in a range between 45 and 60 s after launch. (In dealing with this stress, the space shuttle's main engines reduce their thrust at approximately 45 s to reduce acceleration, and return to normal levels again some 15 s later as maximum dynamic pressure is traversed.) This paper presents an analysis, accessible to introductory-level students, that predicts the time of Max. AirPressure for a given ascending spacecraft.