Development and Qualification of Lightweight Ablator Aeroshell BBM for Martian Mission

摘要

Lightweight ablative material has been developed in Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for Mars rover mission in Japan. Basic thermal characteristics of ablating material are obtained by conducting heating tests in high enthalpy facilities. Thermal conductivity measurements and thermogravimetry analysis are made to develop a numerical analysis code to predict the thermal performance of ablator in flight environments. Tensile strength tests are carried out to examine the mechanical performanece of ablator. Effects of Martian dust storm on the surface erosion of ablator are also investigated experimentally. Finally, a breadboard model of the lightweight ablator aeroshell with the diameter of 500mm is develpoed to examine a manufacturability of proto flight model of aeroshell. The developed BBM is qualified through vibration tests, pyro shock tests, and thermal-vacuum tests at the qualification test level of the mission requirements.