Enhancing Planetary Landing Safety: Insights from Rocket Plume-Surface Interaction Simulations

Brownout effects during planetary landings can limit visibility and cause damage to spacecraft. Researchers have developed a new simulation model to address this issue and optimize landing designs.

As space exploration continues to push boundaries, ensuring safe planetary landings remains a top priority. Researchers from Chungnam National University, the University of Edinburgh, Gyeongsang National University, and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information have made strides in improving landing safety through a new model that simulates the interaction between a rocket plume and the surface of a planetary body.

Published in Physics of Fluids by AIP Publishing, the research offers valuable insights for evaluating landing sites and optimizing spacecraft and rocket engine designs.

By mitigating the effects of dust and debris, these findings bring us one step closer to safer planetary landings.

“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 for scientific understanding and future exploration,” explains author Byoung Jae Kim.

The computational framework utilizes multiple data sources, including information about the rocket, engines, surface composition, topography, atmospheric conditions, and gravitational forces at the landing site.

Using a system of equations that considers the interaction of gas with solid particles, the simulation predicts various factors, such as the shape and size of the plume, the temperature and pressure of the plume and surface, and the material erosion or displacement. This cutting-edge methodology significantly enhances computational efficiency compared to earlier techniques, according to the authors.

This “tool can simulate the plume surface interaction problem at the fundamental level (e.g., scour pattern formation and development of erosion models) and for practical engineering applications (e.g., predicting particle trajectories to avoid damage to the lander and previously established sites and planning descend/ascend scenarios),” adds Kim.

As per the model, when it came to ascent and descent, small regolith particles were able to reach high altitudes, resulting in severe brownout effects. On the other hand, larger particles that had an increased bed height led to a more favorable brownout status.

“The insights gained from this study of the effects of different parameters on plume-surface interaction can inform the development of more effective and efficient landing technologies,” adds Kim.

Additionally, the researchers discovered patterns of festooned scour on planetary surfaces that could be used for future scientific investigations of celestial bodies.

As the team continues to advance the framework, they aim to incorporate more intricate physics, such as chemical reactions and solid particle collisions.

This versatile model could also be applied to other physics scenarios, including the design of needle-free drug delivery systems.

Overall, the study’s contributions have broad implications for improving technology and advancing scientific research in a variety of fields.

Source: 10.1063/5.0143398

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH/MSSS / HANDOUT/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images