What is the sensitivity, (percipitation density) required for rain/moisture to be “seen” by Doppler radar?
Dear Ashlee, The heat in the reentry phase is due to friction between the spacecraft and the air. In the case of the space shuttle, the de-orbit burn reduces the forward speed by about 200 mi/hr (300 km/hr) to 17,100 mi/hr (27,400 km/hr). Some 30 minutes later the orbit has decayed from an altitude of about 250 mi (400 km) to 400,000 ft ( 122,000 m) and the atmosphere becomes dense enough to exert significant drag. About 18 minutes later the shuttle is descending through 180,000 ft (55,000 m), having slowed to 8300 mi/hr (13,000) km/hr). All that extra kinetic energy has been converted to heat. The same concept applies to the meteors you see streaking across the night sky. When a space vehicle is launched, enormous amounts of energy are required to lift it away from the surface. Thus, lift-off is a somewhat slower process, and the boost phase can be designed so that the really high speeds needed to achieve orbit are not attained until the vehicle is above the level at which friction dr
Related Questions
- I have seen the roadside radar trailer used to help deter speeders. How do I go about requesting the trailer for a specific location?
- What is the sensitivity, (percipitation density) required for rain/moisture to be "seen" by Doppler radar?
- Why is there a red square seen on one of the planes on radar?
