Amazing NASA aerial video footage of the Ares 1-X test flight including what happened after the solid rocket booster (SRB) separation. The SRB appears to barge the Orion dummy capsule out of the way, although they probably never touched in reality. The SRB then proceeds on its tumbling freefall trajectory, eventually deploying the drone chute at a relatively low altitude prior to releasing all three of the main parachutes. At this point one of the parachute canopies collapses due to a cord failure and with the parachute still partially attached to the booster it interferes with a second parachute. The resulting 50% loss of drag causes the SRB to splash into the ocean at a much greater vertical and horizontal velocity than normal. This high velocity splashdown is believed to have caused the crease to the Ares I-X outer rocket casing and similar damage has been seen on Space Shuttle boosters following parachute failures.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
What happened after the booster separation of Ares I-X
Amazing NASA aerial video footage of the Ares 1-X test flight including what happened after the solid rocket booster (SRB) separation. The SRB appears to barge the Orion dummy capsule out of the way, although they probably never touched in reality. The SRB then proceeds on its tumbling freefall trajectory, eventually deploying the drone chute at a relatively low altitude prior to releasing all three of the main parachutes. At this point one of the parachute canopies collapses due to a cord failure and with the parachute still partially attached to the booster it interferes with a second parachute. The resulting 50% loss of drag causes the SRB to splash into the ocean at a much greater vertical and horizontal velocity than normal. This high velocity splashdown is believed to have caused the crease to the Ares I-X outer rocket casing and similar damage has been seen on Space Shuttle boosters following parachute failures.
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What platform were they using to take that video? It's amazing!
ReplyDeleteDavid, it was a Cessna Skymaster aircraft positioned about 10 nautical miles away from the Ares 1-X trajectory at an altitude of 12,000ft. They used a gyro-stabilized high-definition camera system mounted to the outside of the aircraft.
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