Flight experiment of the capsule with the deployable flexible aeroshell using a large scientific balloon

A vehicle with a large-area and low-mass membrane aeroshell has a potential as a re-entry system in near future, because it can reduce the aerodynamic heating dramatically and realize the soft landing without a parachute system. The drop flight experiment of the capsule with a flare-type flexible and deployable membrane aeroshell was carried out using a large scientific balloon. In this flight test, the flight model was separated at an altitude of 39km and conducted a free flight in transonic flow regime. Almost all sensors worked well and the data were obtained successfully during the flight. These data show that the flight model was stable in both transonic and subsonic flow regimes and its flight path and aerodynamic characteristics were good agreement with the results of the trajectory analysis and the wind tunnel tests. This fact indicates that the flare-type flexible aeroshell has good deceleration performance.