• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.581-594
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• 2018

This paper is the follow-on of a previous paper by the author where it was pointed out that the forthcoming, manned exploration missions to Mars, by means of complex geometry spacecraft, involve the study of phenomena like shock wave-boundary layer interaction and shock wave-shock wave interaction also along the entry path in Mars atmosphere. The present paper focuses the chemical effects both in the shock layer and on the surface of a test body along the Mars orbital entry and compares these effects with those along the Earth orbital re-entry. As well known, the Mars atmosphere is almost made up of Carbon dioxide whose dissociation energy is even lower than that of Oxygen. Therefore, although the Mars entry is less energized than the Earth re-entry, one can expect that the effects of chemistry on aerodynamic quantities, both in the shock layer and on a test body surface, are different from those along the Earth re-entry. The study has been carried out computationally by means of a direct simulation Monte Carlo code, simulating the nose of an aero-space-plane and using, as free stream parameters, those along the Mars entry and Earth re-entry trajectories in the altitude interval 60-90 km. At each altitude, three chemical conditions have been considered: 1) gas non reactive and non-catalytic surface, 2) gas reactive and non-catalytic surface, 3) gas reactive and fully-catalytic surface. The results showed that the number of reactions, both in the flow and on the nose surface, is higher for Earth and, correspondingly, also the effects on the aerodynamic quantities.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.54-61
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• 2004

In this paper we carried out a design study for an unmanned Mars missionsuitable for Republic of Korea. The mission will use a KSLV series launch system,which is to place a one tonne payload into the LEO. We calculated the velocityincrements(AV) required for departure from Earth and insertion into the orbitaround Mars based on the mission opportunity data provided by NASA. Two typesof Mars modules - entry type and orbiter type - were considered in this studyWe calculated the mass of TPS(therma1 protection system) for the entry tvpe Marsmodule based on the heat transfer rate and heat load from the Mars atmosphere tothe surface of the TPS. The heat transfer rate and heat load were obtained throughan entry trajectory calculation. For the orbiter type Mars module, we calcuIated themass breakdown of the additional spacecraft which is to insert the Mars moduleinto the orbit around Mars. Other mass items were determined by proportioningfrom the existing Mars modules. This paper finally proposes the payload capacitiesfor each types of Mars modules.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2021

Mars exploration demands aerodynamic computations for a proper design of missions of spacecraft carrying instruments and astronauts to Mars. Both Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method play a key role for this purpose. To the author's knowledge, the altitude separating the fields of applicability of CFD and DSMC in Mars atmosphere entry is not yet clearly defined. The limitations in using DSMC at low altitudes are due to technical limitations of the computer. The limitations in using CFD at high altitudes are due to thermodynamic non-equilibrium. Here, this problem is studied in Mars atmosphere entry, considering the Mars Pathfinder capsule in the altitude interval 40-80 km, by means of a DSMC code. Non-equilibrium is quantified by the relative differences between translational temperature and: rotational (θt-r), vibrational (θt-v), overall (θt-ov) temperatures, anisotropy is quantified by the relative difference between the translational temperature component along x and those along y (θx-y) and along z (θx-z). The results showed that θt-r, θt-v, θx-y, θx-z are almost equivalent. The altitude of 45 km should be the limit altitude for a proper use of a CFD code and the altitude of 40 km should be the limit altitude for a reasonable use of a DSMC code.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.229-249
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• 2020

This paper is the logical follow-up of four papers by the author on the subject "aerodynamics in Mars atmosphere". The aim of the papers was to evaluate the influence of two Mars atmosphere models (NASA Glenn and GRAM-2001) on aerodynamics of a capsule (Pathfinder) entering the Mars atmosphere and also to verify the feasibility of evaluating experimentally the ambient density and the ambient pressure by means of the methods by McLaughlin and Cassanto respectively, therefore to correct the values provided by the models. The study was carried out computationally by means of: i) a code integrating the equations of dynamics of an entry capsule for the computation of the trajectories, ii) two Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) codes for the solution of the 2-D, axial-symmetric and 3-D flow fields around the capsule in the altitude interval 50-100 km. The computations verified that the entry trajectories of Pathfinder from the two models, in terms of the Mach, Reynolds and Knudsen numbers, were very different. The aim of the present paper is to continue this study, considering other aerodynamic problems and then to provide a contribution to a long series of papers on the subject "aerodynamics in Mars atmosphere". More specifically, the present paper evaluated and quantified the effects from the two models of: i) chemical reactions on aerodynamic quantities in the shock layer, ii) surface temperature, therefore of the contribution of the re-emitted molecules, on local (pressure, skin friction, etc.) and on global (drag) quantities, iii) surface recombination reactions (catalyticity) on heat flux. The results verified that the models heavily influence the flow field (as per the shock wave structure) but, apart from the surface recombination reactions, the effects of the different conditions on aerodynamics of the capsule are negligible for both models and confirmed what already found in the previous paper that, because of the higher values of density from the NASA Glenn model, the effects on aerodynamics of a entry capsule are stronger than those computed by the GRAM-2001 model.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.239-256
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• 2019

This study develops a dual purpose: i) evaluating the effects of two different Mars atmosphere models (NASA Glenn and GRAM-2001) on aerodynamics of a capsule (Pathfinder) entering the Mars atmosphere, ii) verifying the feasibility of evaluating the ambient density and pressure by means of the methods by McLaughlin and Cassanto, respectively and therefore to re-build the values provided by the models. The method by McLaughlin relies on the evaluation of the capsule drag coefficient, the method by Cassanto relies on the measurement of pressure at a point on the capsule surface in aerodynamic shadow. The study has been carried out computationally by means of: i) a code integrating the equations of dynamics of the capsule for the computation of the entry trajectory, ii) a DSMC code for the solution of the flow field around the capsule in the altitude interval 50-100 km. The models show consistent differences at altitudes higher than about 40 km. It seems that the GRAM-2001 model is more reliable than the NASA Glenn model. In fact, the NASA Glenn model produces, at high altitude, temperatures that seem to be too low compared with those from the GRAM-2001 model and correspondingly very different aerodynamic conditions in terms of Mach, Reynolds and Knudsen numbers. This produces pretty different capsule drag coefficients by the two models as well as pressure on its surface, making not feasible neither the method by McLaughlin nor that by Cassanto, until a single, reliable model of the Mars atmosphere is not established. The present study verified that the implementation of the Cassanto method in Mars atmosphere should rely (such as it is currently) on pressure obtained experimentally in ground facilities.

• Aerospace Engineering and Technology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.94-104
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• 2013

In solar system, Mars which has the most similar environment with the Earth has been steadily studied for the purpose of habitable environment for the future manned exploration and settlement. During the daytime, Martian ionosphere can be used for the ground-ground communications between lander and rover through the reflection of the radio wave from ionosphere. In addition, researches about Martian ionosphere provide the link of revolution of water and atmosphere. Martian ionospheric observations were performed by the occultation experiments onboard Mariner, Mars, Viking series during early Martian explorations as well as recent Mars Global Surveyor. Low frequency radar and plasma analyzer are on board Mars Express and Viking-1, 2 lander obtained the only vertical plasma density profile during their entry phase. In this paper, we studied the characteristics of scientific payloads observing Martian ionosphere and then analyzed the usability of ionospheric research according to the communication and climate on Mars.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.53-67
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• 2021

The increasing interest in the exploration of Mars stimulated the authors to study aerodynamic problems linked to space vehicles. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the aerodynamic effects of a flapped wing in collaborating with parachutes and retro-rockets to reduce velocity and with thrusters to control the spacecraft attitude. 3-D computations on a preliminary configuration of a blunt-cylinder, provided with flapped fins, quantified the beneficial influence of the fins. The present paper is focused on Aerodynamics of a wing section (NACA-0010) provided with a trailing edge flap. The influence of the flap deflection was evaluated by the increments of aerodynamic force and leading edge pitching moment coefficients with respect to the coefficients in clean configuration. The study was carried out by means of two Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) codes (DS2V/3V solving 2-D/3-D flow fields, respectively). A DSMC code is indispensable to simulate complex flow fields on a wing generated by Shock Wave-Shock Wave Interaction (SWSWI) due to the flap deflection. The flap angle has to be a compromise between the aerodynamic effectiveness and the increases of aerodynamic load and heat flux on the wing section lower surface.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.38 no.6_1
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• pp.1015-1023
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• 2022

The Entry-Descent-Landing process of a lander involves many environmental and technical challenges. To solve these problems, recently, terrestrial relative navigation (TRN) technology has been essential for landers. TRN is a technology for estimating the position and attitude of a lander by comparing Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) data and image data collected from a descending lander with pre-built reference data. In this paper, we present a method for generating descent dataset and extracting landmarks, which are key elements for developing TRN technologies to be used on Mars. The proposed method generates IMU data of a descending lander using a simulated Mars landing trajectory and generates descent images from high-resolution ortho-map and digital elevation map through a ray tracing technique. Landmark extraction is performed by an area-based extraction method due to the low-textured surfaces on Mars. In addition, search area reduction is carried out to improve matching accuracy and speed. The performance evaluation result for the descent dataset generation method showed that the proposed method can generate images that satisfy the imaging geometry. The performance evaluation result for the landmark extraction method showed that the proposed method ensures several meters of positioning accuracy while ensuring processing speed as fast as the feature-based methods.