Study of Some Planetary Atmospheres Features by Probe Entry and Descent Simulations

Characterization of planetary atmospheres is analyzed by its effects in the entry and descent trajectories of probes. Emphasis is on the most important variables that characterize atmospheres e.g. density profile with altitude. Probe trajectories are numerically determined with ENTRAP, a developing multi-purpose computational tool for entry and descent trajectory simulations capable of taking into account many features and perturbations. Real data from Mars Pathfinder mission is used. The goal is to be able to determine more accurately the atmosphere structure by observing real trajectories and what changes are to expect in probe descent trajectories if atmospheres have different properties than the ones assumed initially.