We have developed a software system which is able to predict the motion and destruction of space objects of arbitrary shape entering the Earth's atmosphere. It is named SCARAB ('Spacecraft Atmospheric Re-entry and Aerothermal Breakup'). The software has a modular structure, combining flight dynamics, aerodynamics, thermal analysis, and structural analysis. Each module uses engineering methods to keep the total computational expenditure for the complete simulation within acceptable limits. Thermal and structural analysis provide criteria for the destruction of a traced object. If there are fragments left after a destruction event, each part can be traced separately until all parts of the original spacecraft are destroyed or have reached ground. A first release of the software was finished in 1997, and a second, upgraded version has just been finished. Up to now simple test cases were treated with the software, mainly for functionality and verification testing. This includes comparison with in-flight measurements on a capsule, and comparison with other existing re-entry prediction tools. At present we are attacking more sophisticated cases, e.g. re-entry survivability studies of special interest to the aerospace industry (transfer vehicles, rocket stages), and cases of general interest (uncontrolled satellites, space station(s)). Preliminary results are presented in the paper.
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