David Gildfind

Magnetohydrodynamic Aerobraking for Spacecraft Entry to Earth's Atmosphere

UQ's Centre for Hypersonics was recently awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant to study Magnetohydrodynamic Aerobraking for spacecraft atmospheric entry to Earth. A spaceship returning from Mars will undergo unprecedented aerodynamic heating as it enters Earth's atmosphere. Magnetohydroynamic (MHD) aerobraking involves applying a strong magnetic field to the plasma which forms around the spacecraft at these speeds, theoretically protecting it by reducing structural heat loads and enabling less severe flight trajectories. Our research aims to experimentally study this technology for Earth return from deep space, and it is significant because it will evaluate a new mechanism for managing the tremendous heat loads of planetary entry. The expected outcome and benefit will be development of a new technology to reduce spacecraft heating, leading to safer, more efficient, and potentially reusable spacecraft.

There are four PhD topics planned as part of this Discovery Project:

1. MHD drag measurement (experimental)
2. MHD surface heat flux and shock layer characterisation (experimental)
3. Zeeman effect on radiating hypersonic flows (experimental/numerical)
4. CFD modelling of MHD flows (numerical)

This project is an international collaboration between Australia and Japan to advance MHD aerobraking technology. The experiments will be performed on UQ's X2 and X3 free-piston driven expansion tubes, as well as Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's HEK-X facility at Kakuda. This is a great opportunity for the successful student to develop expertise in: spacecraft ground testing using the world's fastest aerodynamic test facilities; state-of-the-art diagnostic and numerical techniques; and to play a role in developing a potentially ground-breaking future spacecraft heat mitigation technology.