Numerical investigation of the flow of nitrogen past a sphere with allowance for rotational relaxation

The supersonic flow of nitrogen past a sphere is studied in the framework of the complete Navier-Stokes equations and the relaxation equation with allowance for rotational-translational relaxation.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 170–174, March–April, 1980.I thank V. N. Gusev for interest in the work and valuable discussions and V. K. Molodtsov for assisting in the development of the numerical algorithm for solving the problem.