Aerodynamic analysis of Commercial Experiment Transporter re-entry capsule

An aerodynamic analysis of the Commercial Experiment Transporter re-entry capsule has been performed using the laminar thin-layer Navier-Stokes solver LAURA. Flowfield solutions were obtained at Mach numbers 1.5, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 27.5. Axisymmetric and 5-, 10-, and 20-deg angles of attack were considered across the Mach-number range, with the Mach 25 conditions taken to 90-deg angle of attack and the Mach 27.5 cases taken to 60-deg angle of attack. Finite-rate chemistry solutions were performed above Mach 10; otherwise, perfectgas computations were made. Drag, lift, and pitching-moment coefficients were computed, and details of a wake flow are presented. The effect of including the wake in the solution domain was investigated, and base-pressure corrections to forebody drag coefficients were numerically determined for the lower Mach numbers. Pitchingmoment comparisons were made with direct simulation Monte Carlo results in the more rarefied flow at the highest Mach numbers, showing agreement within 2%. Thin-layer Navier-Stokes computations of the axial force were found to be 15% higher than the empirical/Newtonian-based results used during the initial trajectory analyses.