(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011-06)
Post, Ethan A.; Dupzyk, Ian C.; Korzun, Ashley M.; Dyakonov, Artem A.; Tanimoto, Rebekah L.; Edquist, Karl T.
NASA’s Exploration Technology Development and
Demonstration Program has proposed plans for a series
of three sub-scale flight tests at Earth for supersonic
retropropulsion, a candidate decelerator technology for
future, high-mass Mars missions. The first flight test
in this series is intended to be a proof-of-concept test,
demonstrating successful initiation and operation of
supersonic retropropulsion at conditions that replicate
the relevant physics of the aerodynamic-propulsive
interactions expected in flight. Five sub-scale flight test
article concepts, each designed for launch on
sounding rockets, have been developed in
consideration of this proof-of-concept flight test.
Commercial, off-the-shelf components are utilized as
much as possible in each concept. The design merits
of the concepts are compared along with their predicted
performance for a baseline trajectory. The results of a
packaging study and performance-based trade studies
indicate that a sounding rocket is a viable launch
platform for this proof-of-concept test of supersonic
retropropulsion.