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First REBR Reentry a Success
EL SEGUNDO, March 30 -- The first Reentry Breakup Recorder (REBR), an instrument designed and constructed by engineers at The Aerospace Corporation, successfully recorded data as it plunged through the atmosphere on Tuesday night aboard the disintegrating Japanese HTV-2 spacecraft.
The REBR then "phoned home" the data via the Iridium satellite system as it fell into the South Pacific Ocean Tuesday evening.
"It performed beautifully," said Dr. Bill Ailor, director of Aerospace's Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies and REBR development team leader. "The data we've gathered is absolutely unique and will shed new light on the phenomenon of how satellites and launch stages break apart on reentry."
Although it was not designed to survive impact with the water, the REBR did in fact remain intact and continued to transmit data for hours as it bobbed in the ocean between Chile and New Zealand. Analysis of the data will take six to eight weeks.
The REBR is a small autonomous device that is designed to record temperature, acceleration, rotation rate, and other data as a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere.
The Aerospace Corporation designed REBR to collect data during atmospheric reentries of space hardware in order to help understand breakup and increase the safety of such reentries. The REBR project was supported by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the Boeing Company. The first flight test of the small, autonomous device was coordinated by the Department of Defense's Space Test Program.
A second REBR will reenter the atmosphere aboard the European ATV2 vehicle in early June.
See stories and video on spaceflightnow.com and space.com; you must subscribe to view video.
EL SEGUNDO, March 30 -- The first Reentry Breakup Recorder (REBR), an instrument designed and constructed by engineers at The Aerospace Corporation, successfully recorded data as it plunged through the atmosphere on Tuesday night aboard the disintegrating Japanese HTV-2 spacecraft.
The REBR then "phoned home" the data via the Iridium satellite system as it fell into the South Pacific Ocean Tuesday evening.
"It performed beautifully," said Dr. Bill Ailor, director of Aerospace's Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies and REBR development team leader. "The data we've gathered is absolutely unique and will shed new light on the phenomenon of how satellites and launch stages break apart on reentry."
Although it was not designed to survive impact with the water, the REBR did in fact remain intact and continued to transmit data for hours as it bobbed in the ocean between Chile and New Zealand. Analysis of the data will take six to eight weeks.
The REBR is a small autonomous device that is designed to record temperature, acceleration, rotation rate, and other data as a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere.
The Aerospace Corporation designed REBR to collect data during atmospheric reentries of space hardware in order to help understand breakup and increase the safety of such reentries. The REBR project was supported by the U.S. Air Force, NASA, and the Boeing Company. The first flight test of the small, autonomous device was coordinated by the Department of Defense's Space Test Program.
A second REBR will reenter the atmosphere aboard the European ATV2 vehicle in early June.
See stories and video on spaceflightnow.com and space.com; you must subscribe to view video.
Contact Pam Keeton, 703-812-0648 or Pamela.V.Keeton@aero.org.
The Aerospace Corporation's REBR is about 30cm tall and weighs just a few kilograms
[IMAGE CREDIT: BBC/ Aerospace Corporation]
