Magnetohydrodynamic aerobraking to land heavy payloads on Mars

该项目旨在通过对航天器周围形成的热电离气体施加磁场来降低航天器的速度。在火星稀薄的大气层中，单靠空气动力阻力不足以使1吨以上的航天器着陆。人类前往火星的任务需要着陆80吨的有效载荷。磁场与离子流的相互作用耗散了动能，可以减少表面加热。这个项目可以大大增加有效载荷，使火星返回任务成为可能。它还旨在评估真实飞行条件下的磁流体动力制动和热缓解。

This project aims to decelerate space vehicles by applying a magnetic field to the hot ionised gases that form around the vehicle. In the thin atmosphere of Mars, aerodynamic drag alone is not enough to land a spacecraft larger than 1 tonne. A human mission to Mars requires landing of payloads up to 80 tonnes. Interaction of the magnetic field with the ionised flow dissipates kinetic energy and can reduce surface heating. This project could make Mars-return missions feasible by enabling greatly increased payloads. It also aims to evaluate magnetohydrodynamic braking and heat mitigation at true flight conditions.