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06-03-2025, 02:04 PM
Space capsule entering Earth's atmosphere detected with distributed acoustic sensing.
On December 3, 2018, NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification & Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) successfully rendezvoused with near-earth asteroid (NEA) Bennu. Over next 2-years, mission collected rock & regolith samples from asteroid's surface. By Sept 24, 2023, mission's sample return capsule (SRC) entered Earth's atmosphere was collected by NASA scientists. Note: Analysis of samples is already providing insight into what conditions were like during the early solar system.
Nanotechnology
Mar 3, 2025. Astronomy & Space Planetary.
Space capsule entering Earth's atmosphere detected with distributed acoustic sensing (DAS).
The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023. According to a recent study, the known trajectory and timing of the SRC's return provided a rare opportunity to record geophysical signals produced by the capsule using a new method. B'cos it was traveling at hypersonic speeds as it flew through atmosphere, SRC's return produced a sonic boom impacted the ground. NASA using distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) interrogators and surface-draped fiber-optic cables, the team carried out the first reported recording of an SRC reentry with distributed fiber-optic sensing technology.
The team was led by Dr. Carly M. Donahue and consisted of her colleagues from Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), as well as the Dept of Geosciences at Colorado State University & fiber optic-based distributed sensor developer Silixa LLC. Paper details their findings, "Detection of a Space Capsule Entering Earth's Atmosphere w/Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)," recently appeared in journal Seismological Research Letters.
Since the end of the Apollo Era, scientists have studied sample return capsules re-entering Earth's atmosphere. These studies have helped scientists develop safe effective methods for sample-return missions and provided insight into the atmospheric entry of meteoroids. Until now, studies employed infrasound seismic sensors to record resulting geophysical signals. However, Dr. Donahue & her team saw an opportunity since the trajectory and timing of the OSIRIS-REx mission's SRC were known in advance.
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-space-caps...ustic.html
On December 3, 2018, NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification & Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) successfully rendezvoused with near-earth asteroid (NEA) Bennu. Over next 2-years, mission collected rock & regolith samples from asteroid's surface. By Sept 24, 2023, mission's sample return capsule (SRC) entered Earth's atmosphere was collected by NASA scientists. Note: Analysis of samples is already providing insight into what conditions were like during the early solar system.
Nanotechnology
Mar 3, 2025. Astronomy & Space Planetary.
Space capsule entering Earth's atmosphere detected with distributed acoustic sensing (DAS).
The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023. According to a recent study, the known trajectory and timing of the SRC's return provided a rare opportunity to record geophysical signals produced by the capsule using a new method. B'cos it was traveling at hypersonic speeds as it flew through atmosphere, SRC's return produced a sonic boom impacted the ground. NASA using distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) interrogators and surface-draped fiber-optic cables, the team carried out the first reported recording of an SRC reentry with distributed fiber-optic sensing technology.
The team was led by Dr. Carly M. Donahue and consisted of her colleagues from Earth and Environmental Sciences Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), as well as the Dept of Geosciences at Colorado State University & fiber optic-based distributed sensor developer Silixa LLC. Paper details their findings, "Detection of a Space Capsule Entering Earth's Atmosphere w/Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS)," recently appeared in journal Seismological Research Letters.
Since the end of the Apollo Era, scientists have studied sample return capsules re-entering Earth's atmosphere. These studies have helped scientists develop safe effective methods for sample-return missions and provided insight into the atmospheric entry of meteoroids. Until now, studies employed infrasound seismic sensors to record resulting geophysical signals. However, Dr. Donahue & her team saw an opportunity since the trajectory and timing of the OSIRIS-REx mission's SRC were known in advance.
https://phys.org/news/2025-03-space-caps...ustic.html
