Overview of the airdrop systems modeling project within the Collaborative Simulation and Test (CST) Common High Performance Computing Software Support Initiative (CHSSI) portfolio

The US Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program Office (DoD HPCMPO) is attempting to address the current lack of a standardized numerical toolset to model and simulate the performance of a typical aerodynamic decelerator system (ADS). No such tool or system of tools exists that can simulate with high fidelity the performance of an ADS throughout its operational envelope. Within the Collaborative Simulation and Test (CST) Common High Performance Computing Software Support Initiative (CHSSI) portfolio, the HPCMPO is funding the Airdrop Systems Modeling (ASM) project to deal with this need. A collaborative group has been formed to produce a generic Simulation Control Module (SCM) that will serve as a software breadboard on which to connect and combine such analysis tools. The SCM will provide a framework within which an airdrop design engineer or analyst may combine appropriate groupings of analysis and simulation capabilities. In addition, through the interaction of this module and the portfolio's integration software, simulation and test results will be able to be pooled, compared, and used to form a coherent view of the predicted system's operational characteristics.