Reentry vehicle impact error from high altitude transient roll resonance

An analytical model of the effect of high-altitude transient roll resonance on reentry vehicle impact error has been developed. The angle-of-attack behavior was derived from the Euler equations of angular motion. These results were used in the linear equations of motion to obtain impact error. Assumptions on the reentry vehicle roll rate behavior during reentry flight and the trim angle-of-attack behavior during transient roll resonance make conservatively approximate analytical solutions of the equations of motion possible. Calculated results from these solutions are presented which both quantify the severity of the transient roll resonance problem and identify the parameters important to the problem and the altitude regimes over which they significantly influence reentry vehicle performance.