AFRL-Developed Reentry Structures Experiment Completes Brief Hypersonic Flight

  • Published
  • By Eva Blaylock
  • Space Vehicles Directorate
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Launched from White Sands Missile Range, N.M aboard a Navy-supplied sounding rocket, the AFRL-developed Reentry Structures Experiment (RESE) successfully completed a 6-minute hypersonic flight, traveling at Mach 5 to an altitude of 95,000 ft before landing 21 miles from the launch point. 

RESE comprised six innovative payloads; these onboard experiments included a new acoustic protection system, a new reconfigurable hardware architecture for responsive space satellites, two novel thermal sensors, a new high-temperature material, and a flexible circuitry tryout. The overall objective of AFRL's RESE program was to develop a low-cost approach for flight-testing numerous experiments, including associated hardware, for future satellites and space exploration missions.

RESE incorporated six innovative experiments into a single vehicle to achieve maximum payoff. 

The acoustic test measured the performance of a hybrid acoustically layered foil (HALF) foam. Applied to the inner lining of the rocket fairing, this treatment is designed to reduce noise that might damage sensitive launch vehicle instruments. At low frequencies, the HALF foam demonstrated performance results three times improved over traditional treatment systems. 

The Responsive Space Bus Demonstration validated the feasible use of a reconfigurable hardware architecture for quickly assembling satellites in response to changing mission needs. This new architecture bears similarity to the well-established plug-and-play concept in use for desktop computers.

RESE's two onboard thermal sensors consisted of an ablation sensor and a heat flux gauge. Provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, these devices measure the performance of thermal protection systems for reentry vehicles. NASA will also employ these sensors on the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the proposed successor to the space shuttle. Commercially developed by Ocellus, Inc., the high-temperature material incorporated into RESE underwent evaluation as a potential insulation material for protecting reentry vehicles. Supplied for the effort by Q-Flex, Inc., the thin, flexible circuitry launched aboard RESE promises to reduce the mass of aerospace cabling by 50% to 70% and is therefore a candidate for inclusion in future satellites, missiles, and aircraft.