Design of a re-entry experiment to measure aeroshell heating rates

Abstract

A conceptual design review was conducted on a proposed sub-scale re-entry flight experiment. Through some statistical analysis, it was found that a fleet of 8 to 17 of the nonrecoverable re-entry capsules would be required for there to be a 95% chance of the fleet successfully carrying out a re-entry mission. The proposed capsule designs make use of a non-recoverable design. As such, it should be possible to quickly develop a small fleet of them.The experiment design looks at replicating the heat loads experienced during the hypersonic re-entry into Earth"s atmosphere after returning from an interplanetary mission. The re-entry velocity was taken to be 16 km/s. Analysis of the resultant heat loads during atmospheric entry at this speed dictated the aeroshell size. It was shown that the extremely high aerothermodynamic heating can be effectively managed through aeroshell geometry and material selection.