Towards Validated, Accurate, & Predictive Simulations of High-Speed Particle-Laden Flows, Year 2

Current models are unable to accurately predict the environment that a spacecraft is exposed to during a powered descent landing event. The effects of plume/surface interactions become more severe as landed mass increases. Validated predictive modeling capabilities will be required to land larger payloads (>M2020 mass, i.e., human-class) NASA missions. This task will perform the highest-fidelity simulations to date of finite-size particles in high-speed jets, and will focus on validating the numerical predictions with experimental data by partnering with MFSC. Model uncertainty will be quantified based on dedicated validation experiments in new Mach number/particle regimes.