A flight mechanics overview is presented of an Earth flight test designed to investigate a novel, 3D printed thermal protection system (TPS) that is currently in development at NASA as part of the Additive Manufacturing of Thermal Protection Systems project. The project is pioneering a method to print a thermal protection system onto an entry vehicle forebody one layer at a time. This method reduces labor and complexity as compared to traditional manufacturing methods while increasing mission-dependent customization of through-depth materials properties. The flight test has three objectives. First, subject the forebody stagnation point of a capsule equipped with additively manufactured TPS (AMTPS) material to peak heat fluxes in excess of 100 $W/cm^2$. Second, capture in-flight data to enable flight reconstruction and AMTPS material thermal response model improvement. Third, recover the capsule with data storage and forebody AMTPS intact to enable post-flight inspection and analysis of AMTPS performance. The flight test trajectory is designed to achieve a peak stagnation point, cold-wall, entry heat flux of 135~$W/cm^2$. Flight mechanics simulations are performed using the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II (POST2) and Monte-Carlo analysis yields statistical percentiles on vehicle performance at key points along the trajectory. Based on the flight mechanics analysis presented in this paper, a prototype capsule was designed, partially fabricated, and underwent preliminary component stress testing in preparation for fabrication of the flight unit capsule. The capsule outer mold line is a modified version of the heritage Mars Microprobe geometry. The capsule has a 0.356~m diameter, a 30~kg mass, and a hypersonic ballistic coefficient of 300~$kg/m^2$. Sensor selection is guided by flight dynamics simulations with the goal of resolving the re-entry heating pulse. On-board instrumentation include forebody and aftbody pressure sensors and thermocouples, a 9-axis IMU, a GPS receiver, and an Iridium satellite modem, all of which collect and store data throughout flight via on-board avionics systems. A two-stage parachute system is designed to decelerate the capsule to touchdown velocities that will not result in significant fracture or deformation of the charred AMTPS material at ground impact.


    Zugriff

    Zugriff über TIB

    Verfügbarkeit in meiner Bibliothek prüfen


    Exportieren, teilen und zitieren



    Titel :

    Overview of Additively Manufactured TPS Proposed Flight Test and Earth Re-Entry Capsule Design


    Beteiligte:
    David J Blette (Autor:in) / Adam T Sidor (Autor:in) / John E Theisinger (Autor:in) / Ali D Omidy (Autor:in)

    Kongress:

    IEEE Aerospace Conference ; 2024 ; Big Sky, MT, US


    Medientyp :

    Aufsatz (Konferenz)


    Format :

    Keine Angabe


    Sprache :

    Englisch





    Overview of Additively Manufactured TPS Proposed Flight Test and Earth Re-entry Capsule Design

    Blette, David J. / Sidor, Adam T. / Theisinger, John E. et al. | IEEE | 2024




    ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED SATELLITE

    ASTON RICHARD W / JOE CHRISTOPHER DAVID / HASTINGS NICOLE MARIE et al. | Europäisches Patentamt | 2021

    Freier Zugriff