An uncrewed Cygnus supply ship has detached from the ISS and it was being packed with trash and unneeded gear from the space station, the craft is set to burn up harmlessly in Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
But before it was destroyed, the craft performed another scientific investigation by releasing a set of three probes that will collect data on the effectiveness of heat shielding and transmit it to the ground as they sped up through Earth’s atmosphere.
Cost-effective way to test heat shielding materials
The three capsules are part of an experiment named the Kentucky Re-Entry Probe Experiment (KREPE), which is designed to be a cheaper way to test heat-shielding materials. As of now, the design of heat shields called Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) is based on mathematical models of wheat re-entry conditions are expected to involve.
To be on the safer side, TPSs are often overestimated for their size, so the shielding takes up more space and mass than required. With the KREPE experiment, engineers will be able to extract more data on the actual conditions of re-entry which could help make shielding light and slim.
The capsules used in the KREPE tests are fitted with sensors at different depths within the heat shield. When Cygnus is ready to depart from the ISS, the astronauts put the capsules into a dormant mode to make them ready for undocking from the ISS.
Advantages of the new experiment
The capsules look for signals that the Cygnus craft has entered the atmosphere and is starting to break apart. When they receive the signals, the capsules are activated and the collection of data starts. The activation also turns on a communication system, letting the capsules broadcast the data down to the ground.
The capsules should continue collecting data as they fall through Earth’s atmosphere before touchdown in the ocean. The findings will come in handy in the development of heat shielding materials for space, but also for purposes on Earth.
Besides, NASA has also upgraded its Eyes on the Earth tool that allows people to track environment-focused Earth satellites and access to satellites’ gathered data to monitor our planet’s vital signs such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide readings.
