Estimates of nitric oxide production for lifting spacecraft reentry

Abstract An approximate analysis to estimate the quantity of nitric oxide that could be formed in the wake of a reentering lifting spacecraft is reported. Three different approaches are undertaken: two simplified analytical models utilizing the sudden-freezing concept named the “trailing-edge-freezing” and “wake-freezing” approximations, and a computer calculation involving numerical integration of chemical rate equations. The three methods predict a maximum nitric oxide production equivalent to 6, 9.5 and 8% of the mass of the spacecraft, respectively. Thus, the amount of nitric oxide expected to be produced by future space activities is negligibly small compared with that produced by the natural processes.

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