Ballistic Range Tests Verify Stability of a Loaf-Shaped Entry Vehicle

摘要

An entry vehicle whose shape resembles that of a loaf of bread has been proposed for missions to be flown as secondary payloads on the Ariane V launch vehicle. This shape conforms well within the volume available inside the Ariane structure for auxiliary payloads, and provides a much more efficient and larger internal packaging capability for the given launch-vehicle constraints than the conventional sphere-cone geometry (such as that of the Mars-Pathfinder entry vehicle). Because aerodynamic stability for this new class of vehicles must be evaluated, initial ballistic range testing was conducted to assess the supersonic behavior of loaf-shape vehicles. A shadowgraph image of the ballistic range model flying at supersonic speeds is presented.