Entry of a Solar Kite into a Planetary Atmosphere

Paper number

IAC-05-D2.3.09

Author

Mr. Andreas Thellmann, University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Germany

Coauthor

Prof. Christian Mundt, University of the Federal Armed Forces Munich, Germany

Coauthor

Dr. Chris Welch, Kingston University, United Kingdom

Coauthor

Mr. Colin Jack, United Kingdom

Year

2005

Abstract

Solar sails are propelled in space by reflecting solar photons off large surfaces, thereby transforming the momentum of the photons into a propulsive force. A solar kite is a small solar sail which can be deployed and controlled with a minimum of moving parts. It is an ideal piggyback payload, as it has low mass and poses negligible hazard to other payloads due to its inert nature and absence of on-board energy sources or volatiles.

Due to its small size and low mass per unit area, a kite is intrinsically able to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, or enter a planetary atmosphere, at relatively modest temperatures (230°C) and g-forces (10g). An otherwise unmodified kite with a carbon-impregnated Kapton sail should be able to deliver a small payload to soft landing on Earth, Mars, Venus or Titan, while also collecting data during re-entry if required.

This paper investigates the descent of a solar kite with both trajectory simulation and CFD calculation. The first step uses computer code developed by Fluid Gravity Engineering to identify the points of the trajectory at which the maximum heating and surface temperatures occur. By using these points as free stream conditions for DLR’s CFD code CEVCATS-N, the interaction of the hypersonic flow and the kite shape can be investigated. The results allow us to characterize in detail design parameters of the kite to optimize the maximum mass loading that will not burn up the sail. In addition the temperature of the sail fabric, the heat per unit area, the pressure on the kite surface and the shear stress coefficients are displayed from the CFD code.

We propose experiments in a hypersonic shock tunnel to further investigate the three-dimensional influence of the kite on the flow and for validation of our CFD results.

Abstract document

IAC-05-D2.3.09.pdf

Manuscript document

IAC-05-D2.3.09.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

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