Analysis of Thermal Protection Using an Anisotropic Material During the Return Capsule Descent

The article treats the descent of a stabilized spherical capsule to the Earth’s surface along the trajectory from near-lunar and low-Earth orbits. Approximate dependences approximating the known results of numerical and experimental studies are used to analyze the thermal protection environment of the capsule. The use of a material with a high degree of anisotropy of thermal conductivity in the composition of a heat-protective coating is considered. The results indicate that the capsule descent can be performed with no damage to its heat shielding.