angle for reentry in kerbin atmosphere

[Kakarott]

Should I rather try to hit the atmosphere as steep as possible or should I rather choose a flat angle? If I hit the lower atmosphere faster the air brakes me faster and my heat shield has less time to overheat but I tend more to the flat angle but I dont know so im asking^^

[raydioactive]

point retrograde or retrograde, take your pick
EDIT: point prograde or retrograde

[Aaron]

Are you setting up a reentry that goes all the way down to the surface? You shouldn't. Your periapsis should usually be no lower than 45k altitude. I usually do around 52k. This will set you up so you'll be on a fairly flat trajectory in that 40k-52k area where the atmosphere is thick enough to slow you down but not very thick yet, thus keeping you in that area longer and lettting you bleed off speed since you won't be decending fast (flat near periapsis).

[Roadkill]

Your heat shield should never overheat, unless you'd dropping pretty much straight down into the atmosphere.

When I do a reentry I like to set my periapsis to about 72k, then bring my apoapsis down until it becomes 72k (where I'd current be at the previous periapsis) and drop it down to about 25-30k depending on ship.

Believe it or not, you CAN do a reentry without a heat shield if you come in at the right angle.

Earlier today I was testing a setup for a mothership/lander combination capable of making several touchdowns on Duna for science and storing said science on the mothership when bringing the lander back into Kerbin's atmosphere that I completely forgot to add heat shields AND parachutes.

Like a boss I still managed to land the thing. Thankfully I refilled its fuel tanks in Kerbin's orbit so I had plenty of fuel to work with.

[Kakarott]

Originally posted by raydioactive:

point retrograde or retrograde, take your pick
EDIT: point prograde or retrograde

ok but I rather meant the angle of my flight path not the angle of the vessel itself but thanks anyways

[Kakarott]

Originally posted by Roadkill Eatin' Hick:

Your heat shield should never overheat, unless you'd dropping pretty much straight down into the atmosphere.

When I do a reentry I like to set my periapsis to about 72k, then bring my apoapsis down until it becomes 72k (where I'd current be at the previous periapsis) and drop it down to about 25-30k depending on ship.

Believe it or not, you CAN do a reentry without a heat shield if you come in at the right angle.

Earlier today I was testing a setup for a mothership/lander combination capable of making several touchdowns on Duna for science and storing said science on the mothership when bringing the lander back into Kerbin's atmosphere that I completely forgot to add heat shields AND parachutes.

Like a boss I still managed to land the thing. Thankfully I refilled its fuel tanks in Kerbin's orbit so I had plenty of fuel to work with.

well I didnt hit the atmosphere straight down but with a speed of approximately 2700 m/s
From now on I will try to slow my ship down with the higher atmosphere now
How did you land it, did you still have enough fuel to brake?^^
Once I accidentally activated my parachuted when reentering and on the last kilometres to impact I let my kerbal evac and tried to slow him down with the jetpack, he hit the water pretty hard and went limp for about a minute but he survived it!

[ghpstage]

Originally posted by Kakarott:

Should I rather try to hit the atmosphere as steep as possible or should I rather choose a flat angle? If I hit the lower atmosphere faster the air brakes me faster and my heat shield has less time to overheat but I tend more to the flat angle but I dont know so im asking^^

The big problem with coming in too steep is that you are getting much less atmosphere to slow you down, and if you can't slow down enough to allow parachutes to be deployed safely.....

[Nilfsen]

Once I accidentally activated my parachuted when reentering and on the last kilometres to impact I let my kerbal evac and tried to slow him down with the jetpack, he hit the water pretty hard and went limp for about a minute but he survived it!

Don't know if it's vanilla game option but if not then mod called tweak everything is allowing setting parachutes minimal air preasure to open. If setup to 0.4 then it should be safe in Kerbin atmosphere even if accidentialy activated to early. It will open parachutes high enough to stop craft from crashing and low enough to air break to ~200m/s. For other planets ofc settings will be different as it depends on thikness of atmosphere.

[MAD]

There are no tools to measure the angle of your flight path, which is usually changing.
But there are plenty of tools to tell you what your flight path Apoapsis and Periapsis are.

From experimentation.......
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=489712485&fileuploadsuccess=1
Generates very little heat, you don't even need a heat shield ie ablator 200/200
Steeper than this won't give you enough time to slow down before needing to open parachutes.
note: The conical capsules are self stabilizing and were desisiged to come in blunt end first.
If you need a heat shield stick it on the blunt end.
..........................................................................................................................
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=489713445&fileuploadsuccess=1
Economical when coming from LEO because it uses very little fuel to decelerate.
Takes a long time to re-enter.
Generates more heat ie ablator 188/200
..........................................................................................................................
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=497126177&fileuploadsuccess=1
Coming back hyperbolic, Aerobreaking at 3300+ m/s, no heatshield.
Landed AOK
Periapsis set to 9-10km
Note: at the speed I am returning if I set my apo > 36km I skip right out of the atmosphere and am never seen again.

General Rules of Thumb
More mass you have the longer it will take to slow down.
Come in shallow you will have a lot of time to slow down but you will acumulate more heat.
Come in steep you will have less time to slow you down but you will accumulate less heat.
If you try to come back with more than just a capsule the biggest problem is keeping it stable, if you flip you will most likly exceed your G tollerances and explode.Since you can carry all your science data on an astronaut you only need to return with a capsule anyway.
Click on your parachutes they will tell you when it is safe to deploy
Mk1 typically it is safe to open when your velocity is below 250m/s.
Drouge chutes are just ment to slow you down before opening your main chute typically it is safe to open vhen your velocity is below 500m/s

As for angle for reentry, what are you measuring this angle between and what are you measuring with. I just use Periapsis as lots of things will tell you what your orbit Apo and Peri are.

[margalus]

Originally posted by Kakarott:

Should I rather try to hit the atmosphere as steep as possible or should I rather choose a flat angle? If I hit the lower atmosphere faster the air brakes me faster and my heat shield has less time to overheat but I tend more to the flat angle but I dont know so im asking^^

you should come in shallow. You spend more time in the heat, but it is much less intense pressure and heat, so it actually works better. Coming in too steep you hit the thick air too soon and the pressure and heat build up so fast that things can go boom.

[Brocifer]

Originally posted by MAD:

Originally posted by margalus:

you should come in shallow.

BOLUX
look at the pictures above, in post 8
test it for yourself, please.
Which hurts more? - waving your hand through a candle flame fast or slow?

Good point, but utterly wrong in this context. Just let that one rest.

I for my part always do very shallow reentries without a heatshield. Usually 45km above Kerbin for my periapsis. Sometimes it takes a couple of go rounds until I bled off enough speed to finally touch down, but it's an extremely fuel efficient way to get on a planet with an atmosphere.

[Quadg]

in realism overhaul you have to come in shallow.
if you come in too steep the atmo brakes your ship to fast and the G load kills your kerbals. they hit a brick wall....
to shallow and your shield cooks. it can take minutes to brake.
so its about balamcing G load under braking and spending to long cooking. so shallow, but not too shallow.

[alloysteal]

http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198180686065/screenshots/