TRIM FLAP DEVELOPMENT FOR MARTIAN LANDERS - EXPRO PLUS

Objective: To develop a trim flap system for lift modulated entry at Mars for lander missions.Description: During the entry sequence, the next European Mars lander will need to fly a lifting entry trajectory, meaning that the aerodynamic angle of attack will benon-zero. To achieve this, there have been two techniques employed so far in Mars missions offsetting the centre of gravity (CoG) position radially or utilising a trim flap to offset the centre of pressure (CoP) position of the vehicle. The CoG offset is usually achieved by ballast mass ejection, which for the Mars Entry, Descent and Landing (MEDaL) mission has been estimated to weigh on the order of 115 kg. While the ballast ejection system is simpler than a trim flap, the mass gains with the latter could be significant.The system can offer up to an order of magnitude reduction in the mass penalty to perform the L/D modulation. A European-developed trim flap can draw on the heritage of the control flap of the IXV (Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle) and Space Rider vehicles. Thisactivity aims to perform early design, simulation, analysis and breadboard testing of a trim flap system. It includes the development of trim flap hardware, including the Thermal Protection System (TPS), the flap structure and the deployment mechanism. The deployment and retraction mechanism are de-risked through breadboarding and the aerothermodynamic characteristics of the flap are established. The activity encompasses the following tasks: - Mechanical, thermal and electric design of the entire trim flap mechanism. - Derive the AEDB (Aerodynamic Data Base) and the ATDB (Aerothermal Data Base) for the aeroshell and simulate the modulation dynamics. -Design and manufacturing of a breadboard of the flap mechanisms at full scale plus any additional testing at component level or reduced/coupon scale needed to achieve confidence in the mechanism performance. - Perform instrumented ambient deployment tests in a laboratory environment on the breadboard developed to verify function. - Perform plasma wind tunnel testing on the mechanism or a representative subset of the mechanism.Deliverables: Breadboard, Report