Influence of the Mars atmosphere model on aerodynamics of an entry capsule: Part II

Abstract

This paper is the logical follow-up of four papers by the author on the subject “aerodynamics in Mars atmosphere”. The aim of the papers was to evaluate the influence of two Mars atmosphere models (NASA Glenn and GRAM-2001) on aerodynamics of a capsule (Pathfinder) entering the Mars atmosphere and also to verify the feasibility of evaluating experimentally the ambient density and the ambient pressure by means of the methods by McLaughlin and Cassanto respectively, therefore to correct the values provided by the models. The study was carried out computationally by means of: i) a code integrating the equations of dynamics of an entry capsule for the computation of the trajectories, ii) two Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) codes for the solution of the 2-D, axial-symmetric and 3-D flow fields around the capsule in the altitude interval 50-100 km. The computations verified that the entry trajectories of Pathfinder from the two models, in terms of the Mach, Reynolds and Knudsen numbers, were very different. The aim of the present paper is to continue this study, considering other aerodynamic problems and then to provide a contribution to a long series of papers on the subject “aerodynamics in Mars atmosphere”. More specifically, the present paper evaluated and quantified the effects from the two models of: i) chemical reactions on aerodynamic quantities in the shock layer, ii) surface temperature, therefore of the contribution of the re-emitted molecules, on local (pressure, skin friction, etc.) and on global (drag) quantities, iii) surface recombination reactions (catalyticity) on heat flux. The results verified that the models heavily influence the flow field (as per the shock wave structure) but, apart from the surface recombination reactions, the effects of the different conditions on aerodynamics of the capsule are negligible for both models and confirmed what already found in the previous paper that, because of the higher values of density from the NASA Glenn model, the effects on aerodynamics of a entry capsule are stronger than those computed by the GRAM-2001 model.