On August 5, 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory entry vehicle successfully entered Mars atmosphere, flying a guided entry until parachute deploy. The Curiosity rover landed safely in Gale crater upon completion of the Entry Descent and Landing sequence. This paper compares the aerodynamics of the entry capsule extracted from onboard flight data, including Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) accelerometer and rate gyro information, and heatshield surface pressure measurements. From the onboard data, static force and moment data has been extracted. This data is compared to preflight predictions. The information collected by MSL represents the most complete set of information collected during Mars entry to date. It allows the separation of aerodynamic performance from atmospheric conditions. The comparisons show the MSL aerodynamic characteristics have been identified and resolved to an accuracy better than the aerodynamic database uncertainties used in preflight simulations. A number of small anomalies have been identified and are discussed. This data will help revise aerodynamic databases for future missions and will guide computational fluid dynamics (CFD) development to improved prediction codes.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Assessment of the Reconstructed Aerodynamics of the Mars Science Laboratory Entry Vehicle



    Conference:

    23rd AAS/AIAA Space Flight Mechanics Meeting ; 2013 ; Kauai, HI, United States


    Publication date :

    2013-02-10


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :


    Assessment of the Reconstructed Aerodynamics of the Mars Science Laboratory Entry Vehicle

    Schoenenberger, Mark / Norman, John Van / Karlgaard, Chris et al. | AIAA | 2014



    Assessment of the Reconstructed Aerodynamics of the Mars Science Laboratory Entry Vehicle

    M. Schoenenberger / J. W. Van Norman / A. A. Dyakonov et al. | NTIS | 2013


    Assessment of the Reconstructed Aerodynamics of the Mars Science Laboratory Entry Vehicle (AAS 13-306)

    Schoenenberger, M. / Van Norman, J. / Dyakonov, A. et al. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2013