Earth atmospheric entry studies for manned Mars missionsDecelerations, heating rates, and total heat loads encountered when returning from Mars to earth at entry speeds of 12 km/sec to 16 km/sec are studied. For entry at 14 km/sec, it is found that a lift/drag ratio (L/D) of 0.5 is required to provide a guidance corridor margin near 1 deg for the specified deceleration limit of 5 g. For a blunted, raked cone with an L/D = 0.5, the peak heating rate near the aft end of the forebody varies from 0.14 to 0.23 kW/sq cm for laminar flow. If ablation triggers boundary layer transition, the peak heating can rise to 0.5 or up to 0.72 kW/sq cm. All heating rates are sufficiently high to make ablative heat shields necessary.
Document ID
19900051347
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Tauber, M. E. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Palmer, G. E. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Yang, Lily (Sterling Software, Inc. Palo Alto, CA, United States)