Landing on a planet safely is dependent on several factors, including the planet’s size and gravity, the composition of its atmosphere, and the design and capabilities of the spacecraft.
In near-vacuum conditions, researchers create a model to describe the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body. The computational framework collects data on the rocket, its engines, the surface composition and topography, as well as the atmospheric conditions and gravitational forces at the landing site, and the results can be used to assess the safety and feasibility of a proposed landing site and to optimize the design of spacecraft and rocket engines for planetary landings.
When a lander approaches the moon – or a rocky planet, asteroid, or comet – the rocket’s exhaust plume interacts with the surface, causing erosion and kicking up regolith particles. The resulting dusty debris blanket can cause a dangerous brownout effect, reducing visibility and potentially damaging the spacecraft or nearby equipment.
Researchers from Chungnam National University, the University of Edinburgh, Gyeongsang National University, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information developed a model to describe the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body in near-vacuum conditions in Physics of Fluids, published by AIP Publishing. The results can be used to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a proposed landing site and to optimize the design of spacecraft and rocket engines for planetary landings.
Our tool can simulate the plume surface interaction problem at the fundamental level (e.g., scour pattern formation and the development of erosion models) as well as for practical engineering applications (e.g., predicting particle trajectories to avoid damage to the lander and previously established sites and planning descend/ascend scenarios).
Byoung Jae Kim
“Understanding the interaction between the rocket plume and the surface is important for the safety and success of space missions in terms of contamination and erosion, landing accuracy, planetary protection, and engineering design, as well as scientific understanding and future exploration,” Chungnam National University author Byoung Jae Kim said.
The computational framework incorporates data about the rocket, its engines, the surface composition and topography, as well as atmospheric conditions and gravitational forces at the landing site. The simulation estimates the shape and size of the plume, the temperature and pressure of the plume and surface, and the amount of material eroded or displaced by treating the interaction of the gas with solid particles as a system of equations. It does so in a way that is more computationally efficient than previous methods.
“Our tool can simulate the plume surface interaction problem at the fundamental level (e.g., scour pattern formation and the development of erosion models) as well as for practical engineering applications (e.g., predicting particle trajectories to avoid damage to the lander and previously established sites and planning descend/ascend scenarios),” Kim explained.
Small regolith particles reached high altitudes in the model, causing severe brownout effects during ascent and descent. Larger particles with increased bed height, on the other hand, resulted in a more favorable brownout status.
“The insights gained from this study of the effects of different parameters on plume-surface interaction can help to inform the development of more effective and efficient landing technologies,” Kim said. “The study also sheds light on festooned scour patterns that can be observed on planetary surfaces, which can provide valuable information for future scientific investigations of planetary bodies.”
The researchers intend to expand the framework’s capabilities to include more complex physics, such as chemical reactions and solid particle collisions. They believe the model can be used to simulate other physics scenarios, such as needle-free drug delivery systems.
