Magnetohydrodynamic Drag Measurements in an Expansion Tunnel with Argon Test Gas

What is it about?

Magnetohydrodynamic aerobraking refers to the use of a magnetic field during planetary entry to increase drag force on the vehicle. To date, most ground test experiments demonstrating the phenomena have been conducted in an arcjet facility. This paper presents and compares data taken in an expansion tunnel to earlier experiments taken in an arcjet facility. Both data sets follow a linear trend, however differences in magnitude can not be explained entirely by known differences in the flow conditions.

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