Simulation and Analysis of the Influence of Sounding Rocket Outgassing on In-Situ Atmospheric Detection

Abstract

The Meridian Project’s sounding rocket mission uses a mass spectrometer to conduct in-situ atmospheric detection. In order to assess the influence of surface material outgassing and the attitude control jet on the spectrometer’s detection, a sounding rocket platform was modeled and simulated. Using the physical field simulation software COMSOL and the Monte Carlo method, this study investigated whether the gas molecules from the two cases could enter the in-situ atmospheric mass spectrometer’s sensor sampling port after colliding with the background atmosphere. The simulation results show that the influence of surface material outgassing on the in-situ atmospheric detection is very small, even under the conditions of medium solar activity and medium geomagnetic activity, while the influence of the attitude control jet on the in-situ atmospheric detection is large but can be reduced by reducing the low-altitude attitude control operation and decreasing the transmission probability. Through simulation optimization and according to engineering needs, increasing the nozzle outlet cross-sectional area, increasing the temperature of the gas used for attitude control, increasing the nozzle rotation angle, increasing the nozzle outlet angle, or increasing the nozzle center height can reduce the transmission probability. This model can simulate and analyze the influence of both surface material outgassing and attitude control jets on in-situ atmospheric detection, optimize relevant parameters, and provide new ideas for relevant work.