By 
May 5th, 2016
Credit: UP Aerospace/GoPro
A newly released, award-winning GoPro video captures the November 6th, 2015 rocket flight of UP Aerospace Inc. – a 20-foot (6 meter) tall SL-10 suborbital rocket.
The mission deployed the Maraia Capsule testing the aerodynamics and stability of the payload on re-entry to the atmosphere. Designed and built by NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center, Maraia re-entered Earth’s atmosphere independent of the launch vehicle to test controllability at Mach numbers reaching 3.5.
The UP Aerospace rocket reached an altitude of 396,000ft (120,700 meters) and speeds up to Mach 5.5 (3800mph or 6115km/h) at engine burnout.
Deployment system
That mission signaled the 10th SpaceLoft rocket flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico and the 4th mission for NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program.
Credit: UP Aerospace
The mission also marked the debut of UP Aerospace’s new Automated Payload Deployment System (APDS). At 60 seconds into the flight the system successfully released the nose fairing and ejected the 11-pound Maraia re-entry capsule.
The remainder of the vehicle contained three other experiments by NASA’s Ames Research Center, Purdue University, and New Mexico State University.
Recovery at White Sands
The SpaceLoft-10 mission involved an18 minute sub-orbital launch into space and the vehicle was recovered on White Sands Missile Range for re-use on future missions.
Strap yourself in and watch the video at:
Posted in Space News
