Balloon Flight Demonstration for Deep Space Sample Return Capsule with Thin Aeroshell

A thin aeroshell capsule can decelerate from high altitude, which reduces aerodynamic heating, and can land without a parachute due to its low ballistic coefficient during entry, descent, and landing. However, the characteristics of its attitude are unclear, leading to capsule design issues. The Rubber Balloon Experiment for Reentry Capsule with Thin Aeroshell was conducted to confirm the stable flight of a capsule with a thin blunt nose at low speeds and demonstrate a low-cost balloon experiment with few constraints on the balloon launch. The capsule, with a mass of 1.56 kg and a diameter of 0.8 m, was released at an altitude of 25 km using a rubber balloon. The capsule experienced low-attitude oscillation and landed without becoming unstable. In balance with the air drag, the flowfield during flight had a maximum Mach number of 0.15 and Reynolds number of [Formula: see text], which is similar to the flowfield around an actual deep space sample return capsule descending at low speeds. The translational oscillation in the drag direction and rotational oscillations in pitch and yaw were dominant. The experiment suggested that the capsule of deep-space sample return capsule has the potential to undertake a dynamically stable flight in the low-speed region.