Mars Entry Mission Design and Analysis

Nitish Kumar SC08B086

Entry Design Methodology

Direct atmospheric entry Parachute deployment Release of heat shield Switch on the terminal thrusters

Simulation Model

Temperature and Density model

Linear interpolation is used for temperature profile Seasonal variations are ignored An analytical model of Mars [L. Sehnal ] is used to compute the density at a location

Aeroshell Configuration
Low half cone angle are better in term of stability Blunt bodies are better in increased drag and lower heating Drag due to parachute is simply added to the total drag module Parachute deployment results in increase in BC Terminal descent thrusters must have very high velocity impulse

Gravity model and Mars topography

Spherical and non-spherical model is considered Zonal gravity model is used because of more flatness of Mars MOLA data is used here which is freely available from NASA archives Linear interpolation is done in order to obtain different radius and elevation

Numerical Results
2D simulation with gravity 2D simulation with gravity and thrusting 2D simulation with gravity and drag (AOA = 4 MPF) compared until parachute deployment 2D simulation with gravity ,drag and thrusting standard data is not available but results shows convergence and closeness.

2D Simulation
Simulation with gravity, drag and lift and its advantages Simulation with parachute deployment shows terminal velocity is about 70m/s Simulation involving heat shield release shows ending vel. to be 60m/s and inc. in ending time

3D Simulation
Comparison with 2D simulation difference in max acce. and ending ground track Simulation with non-spherical gravity difference in ending flight azimuth angle Simulation with Mars topography data thruster must provide extra 7m/s vel. impulse

Entry Mission Design Analysis

2D simulation studies
Increasing BC inc. FPA Important parameters also increases No effect on ending vel due to increase in lift but ground track and time taken increases L/D decrease with parachute deployment Total flight increases but integrated heat load decreases slightly because of better deceleration of the module

Entry velocity and FPA sensitivity studies

Higher entry vel and less steep entry results in
greater heat load greater peak acce. higher peak dynamic pressure All the above results suggest that FPA must be constraint by skip out angle and peak dynamic pressure. Increase entry vel will increase ground track Parachute deployment Mach number is lower for higher entry velocity

Bank Angle Sensitivity Studies

In initial stages of entry bank angle control is not of much use Ending ground track and time decreases and also heat load gets decreases by introducing bank angle control High bank angle increases max acceleration and also other parameters Negligible effect on ending velocity and ending FPA

Flight azimuth and Landing point sensitivity

Results suggest that ground tracks and ending time are same for trajectories towards pole Results suggest that simple optimization techniques like shooting method can be used to get required ending point

Mars direct entry scenarios within a launch window

Change in departure date results in
Marginal effect on ending vel., flight azimuth and FPA Ending ground track and ending time decreases with delay of departure If landing site is of great concern it is best not to vary departure date

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