Nonablative lightweight thermal protection system for Mars Aeroflyby Sample collection mission

•Concept of a nonablative lightweight thermal protection system (NALT) is proposed.•NALT consists of C/C composite, insulator tiles, and honeycomb sandwich panel.•Thermal characteristics of the NALT was obtained by conducting heating tests.•Bread board model of NALT aeroshell was qualified at qualification test level.•Technology readiness level (TRL) 4 is achieved through qualification tests.

In this study, the concept of a nonablative lightweight thermal protection system (NALT) were proposed for a Mars exploration mission currently under investigation in Japan. The NALT consists of a carbon/carbon (C/C) composite skin, insulator tiles, and a honeycomb sandwich panel. Basic thermal characteristics of the NALT were obtained by conducting heating tests in high-enthalpy facilities. Thermal conductivity values of the insulator tiles as well as the emissivity values of the C/C skin were measured to develop a numerical analysis code for predicting NALT's thermal performance in flight environments. Finally, a breadboard model of a 600-mm diameter NALT aeroshell was developed and qualified through vibration and thermal vacuum tests.