Piercing The Plasma: Ideas To Beat The Communications Blackout Of Reentry

HOT STUFF COMING THROUGH: Computer modeling by Krishnendu Sinha of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay shows the heat flow a space capsule might generate during reentry. Hottest regions exceed 6,000 degrees Celsius (white, purple and red), coolest regions a few hundred (blue). Krishnendu Sinha Itt Bombay

From Scientific American:

Anticipating novel spacecraft and Mach 10 missiles, the U.S. Air Force considers new ways around an old problem.

The frustrating communications blackout that can occur when a spacecraft reenters the atmosphere caused some tense moments in the earlier years of the space age—perhaps most memorably during the crippled Apollo 13 mission. But the phenomenon could also affect communications with new aircraft and weapons systems being contemplated now by the U.S. Air Force, which hopes to find ways to pierce the blackout.

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