Aerodynamic characteristics of Magellan spacecraft in Venus upper atmosphere

The aerodynamic flight characteristics of the Magellan spacecraft in the Venus atmosphere are computed at a nominal altitude of 140 km over a wide range of incidence angles and roll angles. Computational methods are described which can be used to simulate flowfields in the transition and free molecular domains over vehicles of arbitrarily complex geometry. Values of the drag, lift, and transverse forces and of the pitch, yaw, and roll moments are given for incidence angles of -60 to 60 deg and roll angles of 0 to 360 deg. Transitional flow effects are quantified and shown to be small, but not negligible and should be accounted for if high accuracy is required.