Modeling and Flight Performance of Supersonic Disk-Gap-Band Parachutes In Slender Body Wakes

Muppidi, Suman; O’Farrell, Clara; Tanner, Christopher; Norman, John W. Van; Clark, Ian G.

doi:10.2514/6.2018-3623

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Modeling the performance of a supersonic parachute in the wake of a slender forebody is more difficult, and there is limited test data available. The lack of historical test data (of similarly sized parachutes behind thin/slender bodies inflated at desired supersonic conditions) caused the ASPIRE aerodynamics team to rely on performance of parachutes behind blunt bodies (such as that during the descent of MSL in 2012) and account for the differences in the leading body geometry 15 . The final paper will provide reconstructed trajectory and the parachute performance from the three sounding rocket tests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ASPIRE Aerodynamic Models and Flight Performance

Muppidi

O’Farrell

Norman

et al. 2019

AIAA Aviation 2019 Forum

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Experiments (ASPIRE) project was established to test full-scale supersonic parachutes at Mars-relevant conditions, as a risk-reduction activity for NASA's upcoming Mars2020 mission. Deployment and inflation of Disk-Gap-Band (DGB) parachutes were examined at Mach number and dynamic pressure conditions relevant to Mars2020, using a sounding rocket platform. The flight tests examined two parachutes: a build-to-print version of the parachute used by the Mars Science Laboratory and a strengthened version of this parachute that has the same geometry but differs in materials and construction. The first flight test (SR01) of the built-to-print parachute took place on October 4, 2017, followed by the first test of the strengthened parachute during flight SR02 on March 31, 2018. A second test of the strengthened parachute with a higher target load, SR03, took place on September 7, 2018. Over the sequence of the three tests, the parachute was exposed to increasing aerodynamic loads with the peak load during SR03 being significantly larger than is expected during a Martian descent. All three tests were successful: the parachute deployment and inflation occurred at the intended conditions, the measurement systems performed as designed and provided the data, and the parachutes survived the aerodynamic loads they were exposed to. The flight tests yielded valuable data on parachute forces and high-speed imagery of the deployment and inflation process.The final paper will provide details of the aerodynamic behavior and performance of the parachute over the three tests, along with comparisons to pre-flight predictions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%