Indefiniteness of the constants of gaseous reactions involving air and its effect on heat transfer during gliding descent

This article examines the flow of air past bodies reentering the Earth's atmosphere. The numerical study is conducted within the framework of the equations of a thin viscous shock layer in the neighborhood of the stagnation line of a sphere. Two reentry glide paths are examined. Calculations for each path are performed for two blunting radii and three cases of the occurrence of heterogeneous catalytic reactions on the surface, with the use of six systems of data on the rate constants of the gaseous reactions. An estimate is made of the effect of indefiniteness of the chemical kinetics on the values of heat flux and temperature and the concentration profiles.