Reconstruction of Atmosphere, Trajectory, and Aerodynamics for the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator Project

Abstract

The Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test was a full-scale flight test of aerodynamic decelerator technologies developed by the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator technology development project. The purpose of the project was to develop and mature aerodynamic decelerator technologies for landing large mass payloads on the surface of Mars. The technologies included an attached toroidal Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator, a ballute, and supersonic parachutes. Two flight tests were conducted at the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Sufficient data were acquired to reconstruct the vehicle trajectory, main motor thrust, atmosphere, and aerodynamics for these two flight tests. This paper describes the instrumentation, analysis techniques, acquired data, and reconstruction results from these two flight tests. A technique for processing gimballed inertial measurement unit data is developed in which the inertial flight path of the instrument is reconstructed, which is then mapped back to the vehicle body frame as a postprocessing step.