Post-ejection impacts of the space shuttle solid rocket booster nose cap

The dynamics of impacts between the nose cap ejected from the space shuttle solid rocket booster and the drogue parachute pack are analyzed. The analysis is restricted to planar impact, and assumes the law of restitution and the possible occurrence of three types of impact, depending on the friction behavior of the colliding surfaces: forward slip; backward slip; no slip (normal rebound). The positions of both bodies and their velocities at the time of impact are required. Seven successive impacts, representing all three types, detected and simulated for the case of nose cap ejection at 20 fps normal to the direction of airflow, with selected coefficients of friction (0.25) and restitution (0.85).