Quote:
Originally Posted by Paper Kosmonaut
Yeah, same here. I love the new man-rated Dargon a lot. It looks it's tough enough to do the job. But the trunk... No. It's very odd and fifties-like. I could see those waffle shaped air brakes like the Soyuz has but this indeed looks more like some like out of some Flash Gordon style film without any real useful feature. I mean, they are not necessary for steering and up above they don't need the fins for steering either. So what is their function?
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I can't find the link now, but the fins, if I recall correctly, are for added stability in the case of an abort.
I had only recently learned this, but those waffle-shaped airbrakes on the Soyuz are not airbrakes at all. They are simply fins for steering/stabilization. If you look at the N-1 it also has them. The Soviet Union/Russia has been fond of them because of their aerodynamic properties in the trans-sonic and/or super-sonic ranges.