A European private organization plans to launch a Mission Possible capsule into orbit this month. Its return to Earth will be closely monitored by NASA engineers from the Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery (SCIFLI) observer team. They hope to learn more about what happens to the spacecraft during re-entry.
SCIFLI team
NASA’s Scientifically Calibrated In-Flight Imagery team is a division of the Aerospace Administration that specializes in analyzing images of spacecraft during their launch or return to Earth. Their research provides a large amount of technical data important for the next launches.
In the second half of this month, a new and interesting job awaits them. The Exploration Company, a private European company, plans to use a Falcon 9 rocket to launch its capsule into orbit as part of Mission Possible. It will be a short test flight, and of course, it will take place without a crew.
The capsule’s return to Earth will be monitored by SCIFLI specialists. They are already in Hawaii waiting for the moment when the spacecraft is ready to enter the atmosphere. Then they will board a special Gulfstream III airplane and try to track its descent over the Pacific Ocean.
What will they try to find out?
The Exploration Company is not opposed to SCIFLI tracking the flight of their capsule at all. On the contrary, they are happy that experts will be watching its return as it will allow them to collect more important data.
However, everyone agrees that this will not be easy, because they have to search for the tiny capsule in the boundless skies of the Pacific Ocean. They’ll try to start tracking it from an altitude of 61 kilometers. And the main character here should be the spectrograph on board the Gulfstream III. With its help, researchers plan to see directly what happens on the surface of the spacecraft as it enters the dense atmosphere.
At this point, the incredible frictional force heats up the air around the spacecraft and turns it into plasma. This is a real test for the hull material, but what happens to it at this time is still poorly understood. Generally, engineers are content with simulations based on indirect data.
And now this process will be monitored directly. In addition, the SCIFLI team plans to capture and scrutinize the parachute opening process. It is quite possible that experienced NASA specialists on the basis of this data can give their European colleagues advice on how to improve the design of the spacecraft.
According to phys.org
