Reconstruction of Aerothermal Environment and Heat Shield Response of Mars Science Laboratory

Abstract

An initial assessment and reconstruction of the Mars Science Laboratory entry aerothermal environment and thermal protection system response is performed using the onboard instrumentation suite called the Mars Science Laboratory entry, descent, and landing instrumentation. The analysis is performed using the current best-estimated trajectory. The Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing Instrumentation suite in part provides in-depth temperature measurements at seven locations on the heat shield. The temperature data show the occurrence of boundary-layer transition to turbulence on the leeside forebody of the entry vehicle. The data also suggest that the thermal protection system recession is lower than nominal model predictions using diffusion limited surface oxidation. The model predictions of temperatures show an underprediction in the stagnation and apex regions and an overprediction in the leeside region. An estimate of time-varying aeroheating using an inverse reconstruction technique is also presented. The reconstructed aeroheating is sensitive to the choice of a recession model. A few areas of excess margins in aerothermal environments and thermal protection system sizing are identified for reevaluation in future designs.