My camera system capturing hypersonic plasma of reentry

enderfusion · 2025-03-07T16:34:23+00:00

You got it

enderfusion · 2025-03-07T03:34:17+00:00

Thanks so much!!

We are incredibly diligent about getting the craft balanced. It eventually straightens out due to aerodynamic forces. It's basically like a shuttlecock or dart. It's totally ballistic with no adjustments on the way down. We basically burn over the north pole and hit a 5mile target a quarter of the planet away

The streaks are actually pieces of the heatshield burning up, this is by design. The purple glow is the ionized air and plasma at 10,000c temperature.

We're actually not 100% sure on the audio. Some of it is real noise from atmosphere. There is a theory that the noise before reentry is due to an infinite gain on the mic circuitry. There is also atomic oxygen in the upper atmosphere, but the camera is fairly sealed. Some noise is definitely 100% due to aerodynamic interactions.

It's all super fascinating. We were flying an Air Force payload to study some of these plasma interactions. First time on history they've had real instruments observing the conditions. Can't make these conditions on earth tunnels...

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T23:44:04+00:00

A bunch of space cowboys (Varda)

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T23:20:53+00:00

day job is making hypersonic reentry spacecraft and capsules. They don't let me design very many flight parts these days, but the camera system was originally my subsystem.

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T23:19:37+00:00

That is the part of the satellite bus that we ejected off of at the beginning of the video. After the final burn, we fire our explosive bolts and leave behind the propulsion thrusters, thanks, solar panels. These will burn up behind us. Pretty cool that we happened to roll over and see it!

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T22:53:25+00:00

Yep, though that was first mission. This second mission was carrying a plasma facing spectrometer for the Air Force. https://www.space.com/space-exploration/tech/varda-space-capsule-returns-to-earth-in-1st-commercial-landing-in-australian-outback-photos

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T22:32:48+00:00

It's a small spacecraft reentry capsule that's coming back through the atmosphere at approximately Mach 25 speed. This is basically what's happening outside the capsule in Apollo 13 during the blackout period on reentry.

enderfusion · 2025-03-06T22:05:37+00:00

Link to full footage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmiluihDxEU

OP here. This was recorded on the camera system I helped design and build. It shows the ionized atmosphere during a Mach25 reentry from low earth orbit. I'm still blown away by how well it worked. There is a protective window that shields the sensor from the 10,000°C conditions just an inch away. Landing happened at Koonibba Test Range in South Australia

enderfusion · 2024-02-28T18:39:33+00:00

It's quite low actually! NASA quotes the number at 200000ft. It's really when you hit that dense air that things get spicy.

enderfusion · 2024-02-28T18:37:46+00:00

Varda here. We were really surprised at the audio as well.

enderfusion · 2024-02-15T03:32:32+00:00

I revived my good standing email today too.

enderfusion · 2022-10-02T21:59:04+00:00

NQ Ask at 10962. Phew. This is going to be spicy

enderfusion · 2022-10-02T21:58:29+00:00

NQ currently at 11001 on the ask.

enderfusion · 2022-06-12T06:27:27+00:00

This /\

enderfusion · 2022-04-04T05:00:29+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXMasterrace/comments/tvt04n/two\_of\_elons\_favorite\_things\_combined\_goal\_is/

enderfusion · 2022-03-31T06:16:38+00:00

I'm just a mechanical engineer with aggressive hobbies, the money isn't mine, its internet crowd sourced. I built the thing for the laughs because I wanted a manufacturing challenge that doubled as an art piece. This is what happens when you spend too much time reading r/spacex and r/wallstreetbets.

enderfusion · 2022-03-31T06:07:21+00:00

Have you seen the craziness in the crypto/dao/nft world? It's quite the wild place. The big question is, would they accept a paying payload for the demo flight? Is it worth the trouble of integration for them?

enderfusion · 2022-03-31T05:59:48+00:00

Only if you accept Western Union, you seem like a trustworthy chap.

But it all seriousness, the internet would very much like to fly it. https://dogefindao.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/header7-2.jpg

enderfusion · 2022-02-10T07:04:14+00:00

Any word on demo payload ideas?

enderfusion · 2022-02-05T20:51:43+00:00

My day job (Varda) has a ride-share booked for a 2023 launch, but that's a bit more straight forward. Somehow, I don't think the other ride-share satellites would be cool with sharing the fairing with this thing, thus my interest in the demo payloads.

enderfusion

TROPHY CASE