Space Exploration Technologies ( ) has been working to develop technologies to increase capabilities in terms of spaceflight - while keeping related costs down. One such effort, the use of descent capabilities on the first stage of the company's Falcon 9 v1.1 booster - has caught NASA's attention. So much so - that the agency tasked two aircraft to track the Sept. 21 descent of the stage's descent to the Atlantic Ocean. The U.S. Space Agency is currently working to send crews to an asteroid some time in the next decade and to the planet Mars in the 2030s and the Hawthorne, California-based firm's propulsive descent technologies - could play a part in some of these efforts.
NASA has not sent astronauts to destinations beyond low-Earth-orbit (LEO) since the end of the Apollo Moonlandings in 1972. With the conclusion of the final lunar mission, Apollo 17, the space agency has only had crews venture a few hundred miles above our home world. NASA is now planning to utilize its new crew-rated spacecraft, Orion, powered aloft by the Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift booster to accomplish the goal of sending humans to far more distant destinations.
To provide the with data to help enable them to accomplish this, the agency has captured thermal imagery of one of the boosters descending after completing its mission of sending its payload to orbit on Sept. 21. The agency believes that data acquired from these images could prove to be important when developing methodologies for landing crews on the surface of the Red Planet.
'NASA's interest in building our Mars entry, descent and landing capability and SpaceX's interest and experimental operation of a reusable space transportation system enabled acquisition of these data at low cost, without standing up a dedicated flight project of its own,' said Charles Campbell, PDT project manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Using two aircraft, each equipped with thermal imagery capabilities, the agency worked to document the reentry and soft landing attempt of the Falcon 9′s first stage which had completed its part in pushing a Dragon spacecraft out of Earth's atmosphere - and on its way to the International Space Station. NASA has released some of the still images and video, of the first stage's descent. NASA hopes that the data gleaned from these efforts will provide clues as to the unique stresses and temperatures that the first stage encountered on its journey.
The Space Agency carried out these activities under what is known as NASA's Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) project to gain data from the private company's post-launch activities. Based out of Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, the team used an array of telescopes and cameras to record the first stage's descent. The aircraft were provided by both NASA and the U.S. Navy.
For its part, NASA tasked a WB-57 plane, described by the agency as a twin jet engine high-altitude research aircraft, based out of Johnson Space Center in Texas. The aircraft was equipped with long-range infrared optical system. The WB-57 was uniquely suited for the task as it has a gimbal-mounted video camera system which is affixed to the aircraft's nose.
The U.S. Navy meanwhile provided a NP-3D Orion aircraft. The prop-driven plane is based out of the Naval Air Systems Command Weapons Division's Air Test and Evaluation Squadron-30 located at Point Mugu, California. The NP-3D used a long-range infrared optical system and took infrared images of the first stage's descent.
Both aircraft managed to catch sight of the Falcon 9′s first stage as it descended through Earth's atmosphere for a landing in the Atlantic Ocean off the Coast of Georgia. The duo spotted their target some 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the rocket's trajectory toward the Atlantic.
'Because the technologies required to land large payloads on Mars are significantly different than those used here on Earth, investment in these technologies is critical,' said NASA's Principal Investigator for NASA's Propulsive Descent Technologies (PDT) project Robert Braun. 'This is the first high-fidelity data set of a rocket system firing into its direction of travel while traveling at supersonic speeds in Mars-relevant conditions. Analysis of this unique data set will enable system engineers to extract important lessons for the application and infusion of supersonic retro-propulsion into future NASA missions.'
While NASA and other organizations have researched similar technologies - no company or agency has carried out tests during an actual mission - except SpaceX. NASA's DC-X and Blue Origin's New Shepard test vehicles have tested out similar systems. However, to date, only SpaceX has carried out actual supersonic retropropulsion during a mission.
SpaceX has stated that these are merely the first steps toward having the Falcon 9′s first stage return to the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40.
'Through our partnership with SpaceX we're gaining access to real-world test data about advanced rocket stage design and retro-propulsion,' said Michael Gazarik, NASA's associate administrator for Space Technology at NASA Headquarters in Washington. 'Through this partnership we're saving the taxpayer millions of dollars we'd otherwise have to spend to develop and test rockets and flights in-house. This is another great example of American companies partnering with NASA to enable our future exploration goals.'
Not everything has proceeded perfectly in terms of SpaceX's Vertical Takeoff - Vertical Landing (VTVL) efforts. On Aug. 22 of this year, a Falcon 9 Reusable test article's flight termination system was activated after the vehicle began drifting from the flight parameters during the fifth flight under the company's VTVL program. The resulting explosion caused the complete loss of the vehicle.
NASA is currently in the process of handing the responsibility of sending cargo and crews to the space station to private firms such as SpaceX, Boeing and Orbital Sciences Corporation. Meanwhile, the space agency is trying to focus on sending crews on missions beyond low-Earth-orbit. In the case of propulsive descent technology, NASA
Video courtesy of NASA
Tagged Under: Dragon, Falcon 9, SpaceX
Jason RhianJason Rhian spent several years honing his skills with internships at NASA, the National Space Society and other organizations. He has provided content for outlets such as: Aviation Week & Space Technology, Space.com, The Mars Society and Universe Today.
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