Angle Of Attack Analysis Of A Spinning Slender Cone With Slight Aerodynamic And Mass Asymmetries Reentry F

An analysis of the flight motions of the Reentry F spacecraft was made by using a combination of a force method and an application of the angular-rate solution of the linearized equations of motion since a trim buildup due to flight-induced asymmetries introduced an error into the ordinarily determined angle of attack. The analysis revealed that the spacecraft had little or no asymmetries prior to and during pitch-roll resonance. However, as the spacecraft emerged from resonance, a slight trim angle of attack was noted which shortly thereafter experienced a reversal in orientation and a subsequent rapid growth in the same general direction to a maximum of 0.87 (degrees).