Coupled Radiation-Gasdynamic Model for Stardust Earth Entry Simulation

A three-dimensional radiative aerodynamic computational simulation has been accomplished for the thermodynamically and chemically nonequilibrium flowfield around the Stardust sample return capsule at an angle of attack. In the early phase of study, the axisymmetric computations using the half-moment method indicate a significant radiative-gasdynamic interaction at high-altitude stages of the reentry trajectory. The radiative heating of the space capsule is studied again according to the preentry trajectory simulation of NASA duplicating the flight condition at an angle of attack of 8 deg. The three-dimensional radiative heat transfer is generated by a spectral multigroup ray-tracing method including the most dominant radiative mechanisms of absorption and emission. The computational results agree very well with data in literature and bring new insights into the interdisciplinary fluid dynamics phenomenon.