Nasa S Successful Launch Deployment And Recovery Of Loftid An Innovative Inflatable Heat Shield

On the morning of November 10, an Atlas V rocket launched JPSS-2, NOAA’s newest environmental satellite, into orbit. The rocket ride was NASA’s Low Orbital Flight Test in an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID). This mission featured a transverse air chamber—a type of heat shield—for atmospheric reentry. For atmospheric destinations, one of the challenges NASA faces is how to deliver heavy payloads (experiments, equipment, and people) because current rigid airfoils are limited by the size of a rocket’s fairing. One answer is an inflatable airfoil that can be deployed on a much larger scale than the shroud. This technology enables a variety of NASA’s proposed missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus and Titan as well as return to Earth. When a spacecraft enters an atmosphere, aerodynamic forces act on it. Specifically, aerodynamic drag helps slow it down by converting its kinetic energy into heat. Using atmospheric drag is the most effective method of slowing down a spacecraft. NASA’s low-Earth orbit flight test of an inflatable decelerator, or LOFTID, demonstrates a cross-cut airfoil—a type of heat shield—for atmospheric reentry. This animation features mission highlights for the launch of NASA’s state-of-the-art entry, descent and landing technology: Low Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID). Credit: NASA Mars’ atmosphere is much less dense than Earth’s and presents an extreme challenge for aerodynamic deceleration. The atmosphere is thick enough to provide some drag, but too thin to slow the spacecraft down as quickly as it would in Earth’s atmosphere. LOFTID’s large deployable airfoil—an inflatable structure protected by a flexible heat shield—acts as a giant brake as it cuts through the Martian atmosphere. The large airfoil creates more drag than a traditional, smaller rigid airfoil. It begins to slow in the upper atmosphere, allowing the spacecraft to decelerate earlier, at a higher altitude, while experiencing less intense heating. LOFTID is demonstrating a large airfoil — 6 meters in diameter, or about 20 feet — entry from low Earth orbit to demonstrate this technology in conditions relevant to many potential applications. The advantages of using the inflatable retarder design for a variety of space applications include:

Return to low Earth orbit. free brochure materials made in space [3 to 6-meter scale] The International Space Station reduces mass beyond what is currently possible [8 to 12-meter scale] Lower cost of access to space through launch vehicle asset recovery [12-meter scale]

Inflatable decelerator technology is scalable to both crewed and large robotic missions to Mars. On November 10, the launch, deployment and recovery of LOFTID and its data capsule were successful. Now scientists need to evaluate the data collected during the trial to learn about the results. The following is the account of the events of November 10, beginning with takeoff at 1:49 AM. PST: Credit: NASA TV The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite, with NASA Low Flight Orbit Technology Demonstration (LOFTID) en route, lifted off from the Space Launch Complex – 3 at Vandenberg Space Base in California this morning, November 10th! Powered by 860,000 pounds of thrust from the United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket’s RD-180 engine, liftoff occurred at 1:49 a.m. PST. — The United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket surpassed the speed of sound about a minute into flight and soon after reached Max-Q – the moment of maximum dynamic stress on the rocket. This is followed by the shutdown of the booster engine, followed by the separation of the first and second stages of the rocket. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing containing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) and NASA’s Low Orbital Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is inside on the cell tower at Space Launch Complex-3 (SLC-3) at Vandenberg Space Base in California on October 28, 2022. Credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin — The booster engine shutdown occurred in time, the first and second stages separated as planned, and the Centaur second stage main engine began its burn. The payload fairing that protected the JPSS-2 satellite during the first minutes of ascent has dropped as expected. The second stage’s main engine will burn for just over 12 minutes, driving the spacecraft toward the Equator and into low Earth orbit. — United Launch Alliance’s Centaur upper stage successfully fueled the LOFTID reentry vehicle, beginning the LOFTID mission sequence. About two minutes after power-up, Centaur released the payload adapter that had connected JPSS-2 to the rocket’s upper stage. Limited data will be captured in real time during the technology demonstration. Other milestones are fictitious given the mission schedule and sequence. — Aircraft inflation has begun. Once the airfoil reaches four pounds per square inch (psi) of pressure, the Centaur will begin deploying the LOFTID for reentry. — After orienting LOFTID to an acceptable separation angle, Centaur rotated and released the reentry vehicle. Spinning at three revolutions per minute keeps the LOFTID vehicle stable and facing right on re-entry. — At this time, the airfoil should have reached a full inflation pressure of 19 psi. LOFTID only sends limited real-time data during the demo. Full data, including confirmation of final inflation pressure, will be confirmed after landing and recovery. LOFTID is now moving into the atmosphere and re-entry is expected to begin in about 25 minutes. — LOFTID is fully inflated as it begins its re-entry. Credit: NASA TV The team was able to visually confirm the full inflation of the reentry vehicle. LOFTID is now estimated to be about 78 miles in altitude, the point the LOFTID team considers the start of atmospheric reentry. — In the final minutes, LOFTID’s thermal protection system should have reached maximum re-entry heating and the inflatable structure should have reached maximum re-entry pressure load. LOFTID only sends limited real-time data during the demo. Full data, including maximum heating and pressure load, will be confirmed after landing and recovery. — According to the team’s predictions, LOFTID should have slowed to Mach 0.7 — from a maximum speed of Mach 29 — marking the end of the demonstration and data collection. As LOFTID approaches splashdown in about 16 minutes, the ejectable data module will drop and the parachute will deploy. — The teams confirmed that the ejected data logger was jettisoned and received GPS data on its location. LOFTID’s parachutes are expected to be deployed, preparing LOFTID for launch in less than 10 minutes. — LOFTID has been blown into the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles off the coast of Hawaii. Once the position of the airgun is determined, the recovery craft will proceed to the airframe for a recovery attempt. After recovery, the team will retrieve the ejected data logger. — The LOFTID team visually confirmed the fall of the heat shield in the Pacific Ocean. Splashdown occurred a few minutes later than originally thought based on the mission’s expected timeline. — LOFTID landed near the recovery ship. After assessing the situation, the Kahana-II crew has begun preparations for recovery operations, which will bring LOFTID aboard. NASA will post updates on the recovery process and the results of the demonstration as more information becomes available. — The LOFTID heat shield is raised from the water on the deck of the recovery vessel. Credit: ULA Team members successfully retrieved the LOFTID heat shield from the Pacific Ocean on Thursday morning. With the heat shield on board, the recovery canister will then head to retrieve LOFTID’s launch data module, which contains a backup copy of the demonstration data also stored on the heat shield. — The LOFTID heat shield is located on the deck of the recovery container. After the heat shield was recovered, the team retrieved the small backup data recorder from the water. Credit: ULA The LOFTID team successfully recovered the mission’s launch data module from the Pacific Ocean on Thursday morning. The data drive looks like a large lemon and contains a backup copy of the data recorded during the LOFTID demo. Another copy of the data is stored in the heat shield itself, which was already retrieved by the team. The recovery vessel will now return to port. The LOFTID team will analyze the recorded data and inspect the heat shield to evaluate the performance of the technology. Additional updates will be provided as they become available. Illustration of a low earth orbit flight test of an inflatable retarder (LOFTID). Credit: NASA NASA’s low-orbit inflatable decelerator (LOFTID) flight test is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter – an advanced programs manager at United Launch Alliance (ULA) who championed low-cost access to space and the technologies to make it a reality. LOFTID is a collaboration between NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and ULA to demonstrate an inflatable aerodynamic retarder, or airfoil, technology that could one day help land humans on Mars. Since NASA’s founding in 1958, the agency has relied heavily on rigid airfoils (a protective shell consisting of a heat shield and a back shell), parachutes, and thrusters (rockets) to slow people, vehicles, and material on entry in orbit. descent and landing operations. LOFTID…