On the evaporation of condensed substance in a vacuum

Boundary conditions connecting the values of the hydrodynamic variables in a rarefaction wave with the surface temperature were obtained. The gas-kinetic problem of vapor motion in a thin layer directly adjacent to the phase boundary was solved approximately. If the constant surface temperature is sustained by using external radiation, the solution obtained permits calculation of the surface temperature, the velocity of the evaporation front, and the recoil pulse.