Assessment of Convective and Radiative Heating for Jupiter Trojan Sample Return Capsule

Abstract

The aerothermodynamic environments encountered by a sample return capsule for the Jupiter Trojan sample return mission, where atmospheric reentry velocities are higher than 14 km/s, are assessed by computational-fluid-dynamic calculations coupled with radiative heat transfer calculations. A baseline reentry trajectory is designed from the preliminary mission study by using a HAYABUSA-type sample return capsule. Computational-fluiddynamic calculations are conducted at representative flight points along the reentry trajectory with taking account of radiative heat transfer in the shock layer ahead of the capsule. The convective and the radiative heat transfer rates calculated by radiation-coupled flowfield calculations are compared with those obtained by the semi-empirical formulas. The results show considerable impacts of the radiative heat transfer on the flow properties in the shock layer.