Construction of Supersonic Flight Dynamics Test (SFDT-2) Vehicle Monte Carlo Splashdown Footprints for Use in Range Safety and Recovery Operations
The Low-Density Supersonic Dececlerator (LDSD) project performed the second test flight of a supersonic inflatable device (SIAD) and ring-sail parachute on June 8, 2015 over the Pacific Ocean west of Kauai. In order for recovery ships to quickly extract the test vehicle hardware from the ocean, and in the interest of safety to the population of the islands of Kauai and Nihau, statistical estimates of the splashdown location had to be performed. This paper describes the modeling assumptions used to generate the Monti Carlo splashdown trajectory simulation results and the use of the splashdown probability ellipses in support of satisfying range safety requirements.