A spacecraft mission’s entry, descent, and landing (EDL) phase is one of the most dangerous parts of the vehicle’s journey, so it must be carefully planned. However, EDL concepts are impossible to fully test on the ground, so design engineers rely on modeling and simulation to learn how different methods can be expected to perform during the mission. Researchers in NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) Project play a key role in the design of successful EDL systems by identifying and developing promising modeling and simulation technologies that can help define mission concepts, quantify risk, ensure correct system operation, and analyze data returned from previous missions.
The complexity of these high-fidelity tools requires the use of high-performance computers to provide timely data for mission planners. Over the last year, the ESM team ran simulations that used over 7 million node-hours, primarily on Pleiades, the agency’s largest supercomputer, located at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility. EDL modeling and simulation methods have supported NASA missions such as the Mars Science Laboratory, which successfully landed on the Red Planet in 2012, and are helping engineers design the thermal protection system for the Orion spacecraft’s upcoming Exploration Mission-1.
The ultimate goal of NASA’s Exploration Missions is to safely land humans on the surface of Mars and return them safely to Earth. This may well be our most challenging achievement as a nation—and it will not happen until we are able to accurately simulate all of the complex steps involved and demonstrate that our technology is up to the task.
Michael Wright, Senior Research Scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
Quick Facts
- NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling team produced the first-ever demonstration that the dynamic behavior of an entry capsule can be predicted via high-fidelity, unsteady computational fluid dynamics analysis.
- With high-fidelity simulations of supersonic parachute inflation and descent via coupled fluid-structure interaction, the team is making progress toward their goal of developing a predictive capability for parachute inflation loads and dynamics.
- The team provided first-of-their-kind predictive models for shock layer radiation that have already proved critical for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx, InSight, and Orion missions.
- Accurate models for the behavior of thermal protection systems (TPS) during entry are contributing toward development of a computational design engine for engineered materials, such as 3D woven materials for the TPS.