Aerothermodynamic Design of the Mars Science Laboratory Heatshield

Aerothermodynamic design environments are presented for the Mars Science Laboratory entry capsule heatshield. The design conditions are based on Navier-Stokes oweld simulations on shallow (maximum total heat load) and steep (maximum heat ux, shear stress, and pressure) entry trajectories from a 2009 launch. Boundary layer transition is expected prior to peak heat ux, a rst for Mars entry, and the heatshield environments were dened for a fully-turbulent heat pulse. The eects of distributed surface roughness on turbulent heat ux and shear stress peaks are included using empirical correlations. Additional biases and uncertainties are based on computational model comparisons with experimental data and sensitivity studies. The peak design conditions are 197 W=cm 2 for heat ux, 471 Pa for shear stress, 0.371 Earth atm for pressure, and 5477 J=cm 2 for total heat load. Time-varying conditions at xed heatshield locations were generated for thermal protection system analysis and ight instrumentation development. Finally, the aerothermodynamic eects of delaying launch until 2011 are previewed.