Problems of heat transfer and thermal protection of entry vehicles for an unmanned mission to mars

Abstract

The problems of heat transfer and thermal protection for an orbital Martian lander touching down on the planetary surface are investigated. A broad scenario of the mission is given and several possible aerodynamic shapes are considered. Several versions of the landing on the planetary surface are studied. The version with intermediate orbiting of an artificial Mars satellite using aerodynamic deceleration in the atmosphere is adopted as the main variant. The landing on the planetary surface is realized from satellite orbit. This landing pattern requires reusable thermal protection. The convective and radiative heat fluxes are calculated at characteristic points on the surface of a vehicle of the chosen shape. For this shape the necessary weight of thermal protective coating consisting of indestructible reusable TZMK material, used previously for shielding the Buran orbiter, is determined.