Modeling of the plasma environment of re-entry space vehicles

Application of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for calculating the flow near superorbital space vehicles at the high-altitude (above 70 km) part of the trajectory is considered. An example of application of various models of the ionized flow near the vehicle during its reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere for calculating the flow of the Stardust sample return capsule (entry speed 12.4 km/s) is presented. The influence of numerical models on the values of convective and radiative heat fluxes is investigated. It is found that the characteristic feature of such high-speed flows is the mutual influence of ionization and radiation processes, which must be taken into account in modeling.