{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/104926"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/104926","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Optimal lift and drag modulation hypersonic control options for high ballistic coefficient entry vehicles at Mars","abstract":"Future Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions will require larger mass vehicles and payloads, especially if humans are to land on the surface. Current Mars EDL technology relies heavily on Viking-era supersonic parachutes that are approaching their landed mass limits; however, supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) is a promising replacement for parachutes. Minimizing the propellant mass fraction (PMF) for SRP would enable larger payload masses. Maximizing the terminal descent initiation (TDI) altitude is also an important parameter for parachute deployment systems. The ability of different control methods, lift-only, drag-only, and both lift-and-drag control, to separately maximize TDI altitude and minimize PMF was assessed and compared over a range of entry conditions. Results show optimal control profiles that were always bang-bang with similar profiles for both cost functions. The number of switches that was optimal at a given entry state had a strong, direct relationship to entry flight-path angle with at most two-switches for lift control and at most four switches for drag control. Drag-only control was found to be better than lift-only control at steep entry flight path angles while lift-and-drag control was better than either at shallow entry flight-path angles. Adding drag control to lift-only systems was found to reduce PMF by approximately 40% across ballistic coefficients of 300 kg/m2 to 600 kg/m2 and entry velocities between 5 to 7 km/s. The set of feasible TDI states of each control method was assessed by linking the set of reachable TDI states from the hypersonic flight phase to the set of controllable TDI states from the propulsive descent phase. Increased controllability of lift-and-drag control and larger ballistic coefficients for drag control increases the size of the intersection of these two sets.","abstract_html":"Future Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions will require larger mass vehicles and payloads, especially if humans are to land on the surface. Current Mars EDL technology relies heavily on Viking-era supersonic parachutes that are approaching their landed mass limits; however, supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) is a promising replacement for parachutes. Minimizing the propellant mass fraction (PMF) for SRP would enable larger payload masses. Maximizing the terminal descent initiation (TDI) altitude is also an important parameter for parachute deployment systems. The ability of different control methods, lift-only, drag-only, and both lift-and-drag control, to separately maximize TDI altitude and minimize PMF was assessed and compared over a range of entry conditions. Results show optimal control profiles that were always bang-bang with similar profiles for both cost functions. The number of switches that was optimal at a given entry state had a strong, direct relationship to entry flight-path angle with at most two-switches for lift control and at most four switches for drag control. Drag-only control was found to be better than lift-only control at steep entry flight path angles while lift-and-drag control was better than either at shallow entry flight-path angles. Adding drag control to lift-only systems was found to reduce PMF by approximately 40% across ballistic coefficients of 300 kg/m2 to 600 kg/m2 and entry velocities between 5 to 7 km/s. The set of feasible TDI states of each control method was assessed by linking the set of reachable TDI states from the hypersonic flight phase to the set of controllable TDI states from the propulsive descent phase. Increased controllability of lift-and-drag control and larger ballistic coefficients for drag control increases the size of the intersection of these two sets.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Richardson, Nicklaus O."],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Aerospace Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Putnam, Zachary R."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-08-23T20:02:08Z","date_published":"2019-08-23T20:02:08Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:42Z","subjects":["Hypersonic control","entry, descent, and landing","optimal control"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Nicklaus Richardson"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104926","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Putnam, Zachary R."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Richardson, Nicklaus O."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2019-08-23T20:02:08Z","2019-04-26","2019-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Aerospace Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Hypersonic control","entry, descent, and landing","optimal control"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Nicklaus Richardson"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104926"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Future Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions will require larger mass vehicles and payloads, especially if humans are to land on the surface. Current Mars EDL technology relies heavily on Viking-era supersonic parachutes that are approaching their landed mass limits; however, supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) is a promising replacement for parachutes. Minimizing the propellant mass fraction (PMF) for SRP would enable larger payload masses. Maximizing the terminal descent initiation (TDI) altitude is also an important parameter for parachute deployment systems. The ability of different control methods, lift-only, drag-only, and both lift-and-drag control, to separately maximize TDI altitude and minimize PMF was assessed and compared over a range of entry conditions. Results show optimal control profiles that were always bang-bang with similar profiles for both cost functions. The number of switches that was optimal at a given entry state had a strong, direct relationship to entry flight-path angle with at most two-switches for lift control and at most four switches for drag control. Drag-only control was found to be better than lift-only control at steep entry flight path angles while lift-and-drag control was better than either at shallow entry flight-path angles. Adding drag control to lift-only systems was found to reduce PMF by approximately 40% across ballistic coefficients of 300 kg/m2 to 600 kg/m2 and entry velocities between 5 to 7 km/s. The set of feasible TDI states of each control method was assessed by linking the set of reachable TDI states from the hypersonic flight phase to the set of controllable TDI states from the propulsive descent phase. Increased controllability of lift-and-drag control and larger ballistic coefficients for drag control increases the size of the intersection of these two sets.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2019-08-22 without embargo terms","The student, Nicklaus Richardson, accepted the attached license on 2019-04-24 at 13:40.","The student, Nicklaus Richardson, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-04-24 at 13:52.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-04-26 at 10:14.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #13882 on 2019-08-22 at 14:46:33","Made available in DSpace on 2019-08-23T20:02:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 RICHARDSON-THESIS-2019.pdf: 3525739 bytes, checksum: edf406851b2a678241decadfbae9fac4 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4216 bytes, checksum: edddcacc4edd173e3e5780c947935e04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-04-26"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Optimal lift and drag modulation hypersonic control options for high ballistic coefficient entry vehicles at Mars"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Putnam, Zachary R."],"dc:creator":["Richardson, Nicklaus O."],"dc:date":["2019-08-23T20:02:08Z","2019-04-26","2019-05"],"dc:description":["Future Mars entry, descent, and landing (EDL) missions will require larger mass vehicles and payloads, especially if humans are to land on the surface. Current Mars EDL technology relies heavily on Viking-era supersonic parachutes that are approaching their landed mass limits; however, supersonic retropropulsion (SRP) is a promising replacement for parachutes. Minimizing the propellant mass fraction (PMF) for SRP would enable larger payload masses. Maximizing the terminal descent initiation (TDI) altitude is also an important parameter for parachute deployment systems. The ability of different control methods, lift-only, drag-only, and both lift-and-drag control, to separately maximize TDI altitude and minimize PMF was assessed and compared over a range of entry conditions. Results show optimal control profiles that were always bang-bang with similar profiles for both cost functions. The number of switches that was optimal at a given entry state had a strong, direct relationship to entry flight-path angle with at most two-switches for lift control and at most four switches for drag control. Drag-only control was found to be better than lift-only control at steep entry flight path angles while lift-and-drag control was better than either at shallow entry flight-path angles. Adding drag control to lift-only systems was found to reduce PMF by approximately 40% across ballistic coefficients of 300 kg/m2 to 600 kg/m2 and entry velocities between 5 to 7 km/s. The set of feasible TDI states of each control method was assessed by linking the set of reachable TDI states from the hypersonic flight phase to the set of controllable TDI states from the propulsive descent phase. Increased controllability of lift-and-drag control and larger ballistic coefficients for drag control increases the size of the intersection of these two sets.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2019-08-22 without embargo terms","The student, Nicklaus Richardson, accepted the attached license on 2019-04-24 at 13:40.","The student, Nicklaus Richardson, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-04-24 at 13:52.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-04-26 at 10:14.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #13882 on 2019-08-22 at 14:46:33","Made available in DSpace on 2019-08-23T20:02:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 RICHARDSON-THESIS-2019.pdf: 3525739 bytes, checksum: edf406851b2a678241decadfbae9fac4 (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4216 bytes, checksum: edddcacc4edd173e3e5780c947935e04 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-04-26"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/104926"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Nicklaus Richardson"],"dc:subject":["Hypersonic control","entry, descent, and landing","optimal control"],"dc:title":["Optimal lift and drag modulation hypersonic control options for high ballistic coefficient entry vehicles at Mars"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Aerospace Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:42Z"}