Radio communication blackout analysis of ExoMars re-entry mission using raytracing method

This work presents a numerical methodology to properly characterize and predict the ommunications blackout phase of the ExoMars Schiaparelli Martian atmospheric re-entry flight. The focus of this work lies on the use of an optical ray tracing technique to describe the electromagnetic waves behaviour within the ionized wake flow of the vehicle. Bi-dimensional
hypersonic CFD simulations are performed over the ExoMars Schiaparelli module at different
trajectory points with the COOLFluiD aerothermodynamics Finite Volume solver coupled with the thermochemistry library PLATO. Subsequently, a ray tracing algorithm is applied to examine the propagation of electromagnetic waves and their interaction with the re-entry wake flow of the ExoMars vehicle. In this work, results are presented at three different trajectory points, characterized by different ionization levels of the flow. The results show how this methodology is suited to analyze blackout re-entry phases providing useful information on electromagnetic waves behaviour in ionized plasma re-entry flows.