New inflatable aerodynamic decelerator system to reduce spacecraft’s speed while re-entry into Earth’s orbit for safe landing
Anubha Jain
Group captain Prashanth B.Nair, one of India’s four Gangayaan Astronaut-elects, has suggested a unique idea for the re-entry of spacecraft into the Earth’s atmosphere that has the potential of enhancing crew safety and control during his demonstration at Indian Institute of Science(IISc) Bengaluru.
The inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (IAD) system involves a massive balloon-like device that opens up in the front (facing Earth during re-entry) of the crew module increasing the overall surface which helps create a higher level of drag essential to reduce speed.
Atmospheric re-entry has been considered the most challenging aspect of human spaceflight. In this phase, the spacecraft must slow down from orbital velocities of several kilometers per second to a safe landing speed, all the while withstanding extreme aerodynamic heating and g-forces. He said that these findings could have far-reaching implications for Earth-bound missions and also future planetary exploration.
The major part of this innovative study is IAD’s ability to alter the craft’s lift-to-drag ratio by changing its center of gravity (CG). This helps to achieve a ballistic re-entry mode in emergencies. The CG can be adjusted as per the mission requirements. Changing the CG offset changes the lift-to-drag ratio, thereby affecting the g-load and thermal loading during re-entry.
With many other advantages, Nair will submit his thesis “Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators for Atmospheric Re-entry” before a committee and defend it in a couple of weeks. Nair who has completed his MTech thesis under the supervision of Dr. Duvvuri Subrahmanyam, assistant professor, IISc, Bengaluru aerospace engineering department has prepared a detailed concept study of the innovation he suggests in his thesis.
Nair and Subrahmanyam hope this work will lead to a detailed engineering design of an inflatable decelerator system, which will be used for Earth’s re-entry and entry to other planetary atmospheres.
