Astronomy:Project FIRE

Project FIRE - Configuration of the upper stage and probe; flight trajectory

As part of the Project Fire, technicians prepare materials to be subjected to high temperatures that will simulate the effects of re-entry heating. Photographed in the 9 X 6 Foot Thermal Structures Tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center

Project Fire 2 reentry vehicle as photographed from Ascension Island. Photographed by Robert Collie.

Project FIRE (Flight Investigation Reentry Environment) was a United States National Air and Space Administration NASA effort to determine the effects of Atmospheric entry on spacecraft materials.

Project FIRE used both ground testing in wind tunnels and flight tests to test the effects of reentry heating on spacecraft materials, using a subscale model of the Apollo Command Module.

Wind tunnel testing occurred at the 4-foot Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, the High-Temperature Tunnel, and the Thermal Structures Tunnel at the Langley Research Center located in Hampton, Virginia.

Recoverable reentry packages were flight tested using Atlas-D Antares-2 rockets, launched from LC 12 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, United States.

Project Fire 2 reentry vehicle photograph notes by photographer Robert Collie

Flights

FIRE 1 - 14.04.1964 - Atlas-D Antares-2

The first Project FIRE reentry package was propelled to an altitude of 122 km by an Atlas D launch vehicle (missile 263D). Following a coasting phase that reached an apogee exceeding 800 km, the velocity package initiated the reentry vehicle's trajectory, plunging it into a trajectory at a velocity of 11,300 meters per second with a minus 15 degree trajectory. As the spacecraft descended towards Earth, a solid-fuel Antares II rocket positioned behind the payload ignited for 30 seconds, elevating the descent speed to 40,501 kilometers per hour. Temperature data from the spacecraft's instruments were transmitted to the ground, indicating an estimated exterior temperature of 11,400 K. Approximately 32 minutes post-launch, the spacecraft made impact into the Atlantic Ocean.

FIRE 2 - 22.05.1965 - Atlas-D Antares-2

During the second trial, a propelled instrumented probe, referred to as a "flying thermometer," was launched into a ballistic trajectory over 805 km high by an Atlas D booster (missile 264D). As the spacecraft initiated its descent after 26 minutes of flight, the Antares rocket accelerated its fall. The probe entered the atmosphere at a velocity of 40,877 km per hour, generating temperatures of approximately 11,206 K. Ground stations received data on heating throughout the descent. Thirty-two minutes post-launch, and a mere six minutes after the Antares ignition, the device impacted in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 8,256 km southeast of the Cape.