Abstract

In past Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) missions, deceleration of a spacecraft has been achieved by means of fixed-geometry rigid heat shields. Their maximum diameter was constrained by the size of the launcher fairing and this in turn has restricted the payload mass. Foldable aeroshells, stowed during launch and deployed before the entry manoeuvre, show potential for landing heavier payloads on the surface of a planet. In addition, they could be a versatile option for aerocapture manoeuvres and orbit insertion at the ice giants. In this talk I will give an overview of the research on mechanically deployable heat shields that has been carried out at Imperial College in recent years. The Hypersonic foldable Aeroshell for THermal protection using ORigami (HATHOR) concept consists of rigid Thermal Protection System (TPS) panels fitted between retractable ribs for the repeatable deployment of a high precision geometry. The talk will focus on the preliminary design of HATHOR , including aerothermodynamic, structural and material considerations, assessed through in-house developed codes. I will also show the progress towards the creation of a 2.6m diameter engineering model of HATHOR .