Heating analysis for the Pioneer Venus multiprobe mission

Abstract

The fully coupled, radiating flow field around the entry probes is determined from a detailed calculation which includes equilibrium chemistry, nongray radiative transport, ablation product injection, and a laminar or turbulent boundary layer. Results show that the radiative flux toward the body is attenuated in the boundary layer at downstream regions of the body as well as at the stagnation point and that, even when radiation absorption by ablation products is accounted for, the radiative heating rates along the downstream regions of the body can, under certain conditions, exceed the stagnation point values. It is also shown that, for Venusian entry, the spectral distribution of radiative flux and the magnitude of radiation absorption by ablation products depend strongly on entry velocity, and that the state of the boundary layer can significantly influence the amount of ablation product absorption or emission that occurs in various spectral regions