Question: Consider an axisymmetric blunt-nosed vehicle entering the Earth's atmosphere. At 60,000 m altitude the velocity is 6100m/s. The radius of curvature of the nose is 1.8 m. Calculate the convective heat flux to the vehicle at the stagnation point. (Note that this calculation neglects radiation from the very high-temperature dissociated gases behind the shock wave.) If the surface is insulated, calculate the equilibrium surface temperature assuming that the surface radiates as a black body to the surroundings. Suppose the surface is a graphite heat shield; calculate the rate of ablation of the graphite in millimeters per minute.