Bidirectional control surfaces for use with high speed vehicles, and associated systems and methods

摘要

Vehicles with bidirectional control surfaces and associated systems and methods are disclosed. In a particular embodiment, a rocket can include a plurality of bidirectional control surfaces positioned toward an aft portion of the rocket. In this embodiment, the bidirectional control surfaces can be operable to control the orientation and/or flight path of the rocket during both ascent, in a nose-first orientation, and descent, in a tail-first orientation for, e.g., a tail-down landing.

主权项

1. A method for controlling a rocket having a first end portion, a second end portion, and at least one moveable control surface, wherein the at least one moveable control surface has a first edge portion and a second edge portion, the method comprising:
aerodynamically controlling the rocket with the at least one moveable control surface when the rocket is flying in a first orientation in which the first end portion leads the second end portion and the first edge portion leads the second edge portion; and aerodynamically controlling the rocket with the at least one moveable control surface when the rocket is flying in a second orientation in which the second end portion leads the first end portion; wherein aerodynamically controlling the rocket with the at least one moveable control surface when the rocket is flying in the first and second orientations includes pivoting the at least one moveable control surface about a pivot axis that extends between the first and second edge portions.