DOE OSTI · 3005619
Array-Based Seismic Measurements of OSIRIS-REx’s Re-Entry
Abstract
The return home of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft in September 2023 marked only the fifth time that an artificial object entered the Earth’s atmosphere at interplanetary velocities. Although rare, such events serve as valuable analogs for natural meteoroid re-entries; enabling study of hypersonic dynamics, shock wave generation, and acoustic-to-seismic coupling. Here, in this study, we report on the signatures recorded by a dense (100 m scale) 11-station array located almost directly underneath the capsule’s point of peak atmospheric heating in northern Nevada. Seismic data are presented, which allow inferences to be made about the shape of the shock wave’s footprint on the surface, the capsule’s trajectory, and its flight parameters.
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Fernando, Benjamin A. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000273218401), Charalambous, Constantinos [Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000291393895), Schmerr, Nick [Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000232561262), Craig, Timothy J. [Univ. of Leeds (United Kingdom)], Wolf, Jonathan [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)], Lewis, Kevin [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)] (ORCID:000000033412803X), Sansom, Eleanor K. [Curtin Univ., Perth, WA (Australia)] (ORCID:000000032702673X), Saliby, Christelle [Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Valbonne (France); Universite Cote d'Azur, Valbonne (France). Laboratoire Géoazur (GEOAZUR); Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Valbonne (France); Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Valbonne (France)] (ORCID:000000020101723X), McCleary, Meaghan [Analytical Mechanics Associates, Inc., Hampton, VA (United States); NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)] (ORCID:0009000852332820), Inman, Jennifer [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000162133181), LaPierre, Justin [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Ronac Giannone, Miro [Southern Methodist Univ., Dallas, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000187522263), Pearson, Karen [Independent Researcher, Bowie, MD (United States)], Fleigle, Michael [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)], Larmat, Carene [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)] (ORCID:0000000236077558), Karatekin, Ozgur [Royal Observatory of Belgium, Uccle (Belgium)] (ORCID:0000000301537291), Elle Hanson, Lavender [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0000000322988382), Baliyan, Shivani [Independent Researcher, Boulder, CO (United States)], Buttsworth, David [Univ. of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD (Australia)], Cheng, Hiu Ching Jupiter [Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (United States)], Chinchalkar, Neeraja S. [Univ. of Western Ontario, London, ON (Canada)] (ORCID:0000000235413791), Daly, Luke [Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000271504092), Devillepoix, Hadrien A. R. [Univ. of Leeds (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000192261870), Muhammad Gajani, Aly [Univ. of Karachi (Pakistan)] (ORCID:0009000152499873), Gerritzen, Carina T. [Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels (Belgium)] (ORCID:0000000214942643), Hicks, Daniel C. [US Dept. of Defense, Las Cruces, NM (United States)], Johnson, Roy [NASA Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Mountain View, CA (United States)], Khan, Sabrina Y. [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)], Lamm, Sarah N. [Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)] (ORCID:0000000338101213), Pesciotta, Cara [Johns Hopkins Univ., Baltimore, MD (United States)] (ORCID:0009000769106347), Rivlin, Tom [Technische Univ. Wien (Austria)] (ORCID:0000000292752917), Rolland, Lucie [Universite Cote d'Azur, Nice (France). Laboratoire Géoazur (GEOAZUR)] (ORCID:000000025197963X), Marzban Thiemens, Maxwell [Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland (United Kingdom)] (ORCID:0000000278354402), Turner, Alice R. [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)] (ORCID:0000000237436428), Zander, Fabian [Univ. of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD (Australia)]. 2025-02-12. Array-Based Seismic Measurements of OSIRIS-REx’s Re-Entry. https://doi.org/10.1785/0220240339
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