Xiuqi “Charlie” Yang adjusts nozzle alignment in preparation for more testing.

While supersonic parachutes worked to slow NASA’s Mars Insight and Curiosity Rover for landing, this Viking-era technology has reached its limits. New landing technologies are needed that are simple, scalable, and made from conventional space hardware. Research under Professor Owen Williams is advancing supersonic retropropulsion (SRP), identified by NASA as a key entry, descent and landing technology for future Mars missions and for the reuse of rocket boosters back here on Earth. With this landing method, the vehicle slows down from supersonic speeds by firing its engines into the oncoming high-speed, supersonic flow. Depending on flow conditions and vehicle layout, the bow shockwave and surrounding flow may become unstable. Current research includes investigating the influence of jet pressure and vehicle geometry on this unsteadiness to determine the sources of shockwave unsteadiness in SRP flow and ways it can be mitigated.