Spacecraft Maneuverable Cowl for Drag and Thrust Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Spacecrafts face contradictory requirements in reducing aerodynamic drag during atmospheric flight while maintaining the functionality of rocket engines, which create significant drag due to their wide nozzle sections, and existing solutions either increase weight or require complex jettisoning mechanisms or fluid injection systems that reduce payload.
Innovation Solution
A maneuverable cowl element that can extend around the rocket nozzle to mask it during atmospheric flight, reducing drag, and deploy to increase drag when the rocket engine is operational, allowing for piloting assistance and thrust enhancement, while also serving as a protective screen against jet bursting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a rocket engine nozzle is exposed during atmospheric flight, then the rocket engine can operate, but aerodynamic drag increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The cowl element is designed to be movable between different positions: closed position during atmospheric flight to reduce drag, and open position during rocket operation to allow exhaust flow. This dynamic reconfiguration resolves the contradiction by adapting the nozzle exposure state to the current flight phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The cowl element is divided into multiple movable segments or flaps that can be independently controlled. This segmentation allows partial opening configurations where the nozzle can be partially exposed for thrust vectoring while maintaining aerodynamic efficiency, or fully opened for maximum thrust, providing flexible control over the drag-thrust tradeoff.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a conical rear cover is used to mask the nozzle during atmospheric flight, then drag is reduced, but a heavy jettisoning device is required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of a fixed conical cover that must be jettisoned, the invention uses a dynamic cowl element that can open and close. This eliminates the need for heavy jettisoning mechanisms while maintaining the drag reduction benefit during atmospheric flight and enabling rocket operation when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cowl element serves multiple functions: it acts as a drag reduction cover during atmospheric flight, opens to allow rocket operation, and can be configured in intermediate positions for thrust vectoring. This multi-functionality replaces the need for separate drag reduction devices and jettisoning mechanisms.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If active fluid injection devices are used to reduce drag, then aerodynamic performance improves, but payload capacity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the fluid injection system entirely from the design, replacing it with a passive movable cowl element. This eliminates the weight penalty associated with carrying and injecting fluid, while still achieving drag reduction through geometric modification of the rear body shape.
4Power
If the cowl element is fully opened for rocket operation, then thrust is maximized, but aerodynamic braking capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The cowl element can be dynamically positioned in different configurations: fully closed for maximum drag (aerodynamic braking), partially open for intermediate thrust and drag, or fully open for maximum thrust. This dynamic control allows the system to provide both aerodynamic braking capability and rocket thrust as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The cowl element can be opened asymmetrically or to different degrees on different sides, allowing independent control of thrust vectoring and drag. This asymmetric capability enables the system to provide aerodynamic braking in one configuration while maintaining partial thrust capability, resolving the contradiction between thrust maximization and drag utilization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device simplifies and reduces the mass of piloting systems by integrating drag reduction and piloting functions, enhancing thrust and stability during various flight phases, and reduces the need for heavy thermal protections and additional attitude control engines.
Implementation Method 1
at least one maneuverable cowl element (3) adapted to assume a first position, masking and reducing the rear drag of the craft
Implementation Method 2
to assume a second fully deployed position, increasing the craft's aerodynamic drag
Implementation Method 3
it extends the fuselage of the craft around at least a part of a nozzle of the rocket motor of the craft
Data Source
Figure 1~3
Figure 4A~4E
Figure 5
AI summary
The subject of the invention is a spacecraft afterbody device provided with at least one rocket motor (2) at the rear of the craft characterized in that it comprises at least one manoeuvrable cowl element (3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d), suitable for taking a first position, for masking and for reducing the rear drag of the craft, where it extends the fuselage of the craft around at least a part of a nozzle (4) of the rocket motor of the craft and stretches beyond the rear of the fuselage of the craft, and for taking a fully deployed second position for increasing the aerodynamic drag of the craft.