Multispectral Reentry Signature Documentation
MARS airborne system on NASA aircraft. Evaluation of hypersonic vehicle performance and thermal protection systems during atmospheric entry.
MARS Reentry Observations
MARS image of the Hayabusa spacecraft reentry and breakup from a NASA high altitude aircraft. Speed: 27,000 miles per hour (44,000 kilometers per hour).Spacecraft breakup image taken using a wide array of MARS' visible, infrared, and spectrographic cameras. Distance to target: 200 km. MARS collected hyperspectral datacubes for each reentry fragment at high frame rates and simultaneously at sub-nanometer resolution, from 340nm to 1.7 microns. MARS sensors at 41,000 feet altitude through optical glass.
NASA Space Shuttle Reentry at Mach 6. MARS infrared observations of Space Shuttle STS-134 during reentry. First hypersonic shuttle reentry imaged at at 4-inches resolution, from 40 miles away. Image by MARS Scientific for NASA/Langley Research Center.
Clients: ESA/NASA/JAXA