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Aerodynamic-Heating Analysis of Sample-Return Capsule in Future Trojan-Asteroid Exploration

2016; American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Volume: 32; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2514/1.t4837

1533-6808

Yusuke Takahashi, Kazuhiko Yamada,

Plasma and Flow Control in Aerodynamics

In sample-return missions, the reentry velocity of a sample-return capsule is expected to be approximately ; however, the reentry velocity of the Hayabusa sample-return capsule was . Strong aerodynamic heating caused by a high velocity can damage the capsule during reentry. To overcome this, two designs of high-velocity reentry capsules were proposed. In one design, a rigid flare was attached to decrease the ballistic coefficient by increasing the front projected area. In the other design, the conventional Hayabusa sample-return capsule was used with no modifications. In this study, the aerodynamic heating of the high-velocity reentry capsules and the Hayabusa sample-return capsule was analyzed using numerical simulations. Plasma flow in the shock layer at the front of the capsules and expansion flow in the wake region around the capsules were investigated. The profiles of convective and radiative heat fluxes on the surfaces of these capsules were predicted. The heat fluxes at the stagnation points predicted by the present numerical simulation were in good agreement with that of the empirical models. At the strongest aerodynamic-heating altitude, the total heat fluxes at the rear of the high-velocity reentry capsules and the Hayabusa sample-return capsule were approximately 2% of those in front of the capsules.