Reduced-Order Model-in-the-loop Flight Simulation of the Genesis Sample Return Capsule

Recent recent efforts have focused on building Reduced Order Models (ROMs), a field-based surrogate model, to predict the surface aerodynamic fields of an entry capsule, capturing the force and moment trends of the capsule without the need for dynamic stability coefficients. While ROMs have shown promising results at predicting the aerodynamics of the Genesis Sample Return Capsule (SRC) in both simulated forced motion and free-flight testing, ROMs were not previously evaluated in coupled trajectory simulation. The objective of this research is to evaluate the previously developed ROM methodology in six-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) trajectory simulations, assessing the feasibility of this new aerodynamic prediction methodology. Results demonstrated ROMs have the potential to make trajectory predictions that align with CFD-in-the-loop flight simulation solutions, capturing the dynamics of the vehicle without stability coefficients, rather than the over-predicting oscillations which can occur with aerodynamic database approaches using dynamic stability coefficients. Several studies were conducted, exploring how certain components of the ROM impact the predictive performance of the model in trajectory simulations.