A new guidance strategy for unpowered Space Shuttle orbiter flight

A new guidance strategy for use during the TAEM (terminal area energy management) phase of the Shuttle reentry flight has been developed. This guidance system steers the vehicle from initial conditions at about 70,000 ft altitude and Mach 1.5 to the beginning of the final landing maneuver. Explicit control of the vehicle's total energy (potential plus kinetic) via the energy dissipation rate allows this system to effectively control the vehicle's energy in the presence of a head or tail wind without a-priori knowledge of the wind. Furthermore, this is accomplished while maintaining a wings-level attitude during most of the flight.