An investigation of the effects of mass loss, shape change and real gas aerodynamics on a Jovian atmospheric reconstruction experiment

A survey of the effects of mass loss, shape change and real-gas aerodynamics on a Jovian atmospheric reconstruction experiment is carried out. Techniques used to reconstruct atmospheric profiles from entry probe measurements are discussed and some of the parameters which affect their accuracy are identified. Trajectory analyses and real-gas, radiatively-coupled flow field analyses (which include the effects of mass loss and shape change) are carried out for several candidate probe configurations. From these analyses, uncertainties in the atmospheric reconstruction procedure are estimated. Finally, the prospects for reducing these uncertainties by optimizing probe configuration and by instrumentation of the probe heat shield to measure actual shape change are considered.