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A suborbital rocket sprints into the early morning sky during a Wednesday test flight of several NASA technologies at Spaceport America to the south-east of Truth or Consequences * (Adolphe-Louis / Albuquerque Journal)
Copyright © 2018 Albuquerque Journal
SPACEPORT AMERICA – It took two, maybe three heartbeats for the roar to occur on the half-mile of rugged terrain between the launch pad and the more than 60 spectators gathered at the launch control.
At that time, the 800-pound rocket was just a gleaming eye-catcher in the pale early morning sky, a glimmer of fire trailing behind a trail of vapor through the reflections of the rising sun.
They said it would be fast.
"They use a solid fuel, so it will jump off this platform with great exuberance," said Chris Lopez, vice president for Spaceport America operations near Truth or Consequences and White Sands Missile Range.
Launched at 7:33 am on Wednesday, the SpaceLoft suborbital rocket, developed by UP Aerospace, a space launch services company, tested three NASA technologies that could someday play a role in Mars' s exploration and development. other planets.
"The origin of this phenomenon is Mars," said Ethiraj Venkatapathy, senior systems technologist at NASA's Ames Research Center in California. He was talking about ADEPT, one of NASA's technologies tested during Wednesday's 14-minute suborbital flight.
ADEPT stands for Adaptive Deployable Entry and Placement Technology and is an umbrella-like thermal shield that ejects from a rocket and is designed to deploy payloads
"It's what's flying up there now," said Venkatapathy, pointing to an ADEPT model just minutes after the launch. "We have to show that he can be very stable and not fall."
Made up of woven and highly heat-resistant carbon fibers, supported by semi-rigid ribs, the ADEPT system integrates into existing vehicle launching systems, but extends when separated from the rocket in a configuration enabling him to fulfill his mission.
The ADEPT model tested Wednesday has expanded to 30 inches in diameter after separation. Venkatapathy said that a diameter of 75 to 80 feet would be needed to safely route a crew of seven human explorers on the surface of Mars, which has a lower gravitational force than the Earth.
He stated that a thicker carbon weave and different dimensions would be needed to provide scientific equipment on the surface of Venus, a planet with a gravitational force almost as large as that of the Earth, making the approaches warmer and more fast.
Wednesday's launch marked the first time that the ADEPT has been tested in flight.
Other NASA systems tested on Wednesday were the autonomous flight termination system, which would allow the automatic termination of flights that go astray, and a system that measures the internal environment – temperature, pressure – suborbital vehicles carrying experiments.
How the three technologies the tests will not be known until the payloads have been analyzed as a result of their recovery from their re-entry site on the nearby White Sands range.
"But even a failed test is a success because it tells you whether your concept is good or not," said Karen Barker, Director of Strategic Solutions at Spaceport America.
What is known and celebrated on Wednesday is that the launch, the flight and the deployment went as planned.
"It seems like a success," said Bill Gutman, vice president of aerospace operations at Spaceport America. "He has reached the planned altitude, 70.9 miles, and everything is back on the ground."
He said the rocket, which is 20 feet long and 10 1/2 inches in diameter, traveled at a speed of more than 3,500 mph and descended to White Sands about 30 miles from the launch site.
"We know by radar that the vehicle was very close to its predicted trajectory," said Gutman. "It's always a good day."
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