Aerodynamics of the Reentry Spacecraft Stardust Within the Hypersonic Flight

The article deals with the calculation results of aerodynamic characteristics of the spacecraft Stardust with an axially symmetric flow and angle of attack 10°. The calculations use authoring computer codes NERAT-2D and NERAT-3D, which implemented a hybrid explicit-implicit computer models integration of Navier - Stokes motion equations of physically and chemically nonequilibrium gas mixtures. We take into account the processes of chemical kinetics and vibrational relaxation of air molecules and radiation heat transfer in the compressed layer formed at the surface of a spacecraft entering the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 12.4 km/s. We compared the calculated data on the drag coefficient and lift, as well as moments of the pitch, with the calculations results of NASA experts who had worked on planning the trajectory of the spacecraft Stardust entry into the dense atmospheric layers after about six years of the spacecraft flight to the comet Wild-2. At the same time, NASA experts used one of the reputable computer codes LAURA developed at NASA. Implementation of this comparison suggests performing NERAT-2D and NERAT-3D codes verification in relation to LAURA code in terms of determining the aerodynamic coefficients.

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