Abstract:

In view of the uncertainties caused by the gas radiative heating for the thermal protection system design of the vehicles entering the Martian atmosphere, based on a brief description of the development history of the Mars exploration and gas radiation, the research progress of the gas radiative heating for Mars entry is reviewed. Firstly, the concept of gas radiative heating and the origin of the problem for Mars entry are described. Secondly, the recent advances in numerical and experimental researches on the basic models of the radiative heating for Mars entry are highlighted, including the numerical models and computational methods of the thermochemical non-equilibrium gas dynamics, gas radiation characteristics and radiative transportation; ground facilities, testing techniques, and experimental investigation and validation on gas radiation in the simulated Martian atmosphere. Thirdly, the applications on the design of the Mars entry vehicles such as flow radiation coupling and gas radiative heating on after body are introduced. Finally, the recommendations on the future Mars entry gas radiation research are given.

Key words:  Mars entry, Gas radiation, Non equilibrium, Numerical simulation, Ground experiment