Glossary — B
11 terms
Booster
A rocket stage or motor providing initial thrust, often recovered.
Example: The first-stage booster landed back at the pad.
Bipropellant
A propulsion system using separate fuel and oxidizer stored and fed independently.
Example: Most orbital stages are bipropellant systems burning fuel with oxidizer.
Bell nozzle
The classic curved nozzle profile used on most rocket engines.
Example: The engine's bell nozzle was visible during the static fire.
Ballistic reentry
A steep, unpowered reentry without significant lift.
Example: The capsule made a ballistic reentry under parachutes.
Berthing
Attaching a spacecraft using a robotic arm rather than self-propelled docking.
Example: The cargo module was berthed to the station's port by the arm.
Bow shock
The curved shock wave standing off a blunt body in supersonic flow.
Example: The bow shock dispersed much of the entry heating.
Ballistic coefficient
A measure of how easily a body penetrates air, mass per drag area.
Example: A low ballistic coefficient slows an object more quickly.
Battery
A device storing electrical energy for use when solar power is unavailable.
Example: Batteries carried the spacecraft through the eclipse portion of the orbit.
Burn time
The duration a rocket motor actively produces thrust.
Example: The solid boosters have a burn time of about two minutes.
Bi-elliptic transfer
A three-burn transfer that can beat Hohmann for very large radius ratios or plane changes.
Example: A bi-elliptic transfer saves propellant for extreme orbital changes.
Boil-off
The evaporation of cryogenic propellant over time.
Example: Insulation reduces liquid-hydrogen boil-off during the coast.