Aerothermodynamic Analyses for the LOFTID Technology Demonstration Mission

On November 10, 2023, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) flight test successfully demonstrated the aerodynamic and thermal protection system performance of an inflatable aeroshell at conditions relevant to an operational mission. Aerodynamic performance and aeroheating environment databases for this mission were generated using multiple computational tools for the rarefied, hypersonic, and supersonic flow regimes, supplemented by wind tunnel testing to obtain aeroshell boundary-layer transition and wake flow simulation validation data. A detailed discussion of tools, methods, and results is presented herein.