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Determining Bolide Luminous Efficiency Through Optical Observations of the Genesis Atmospheric EntryThe Genesis spacecraft reentry presented a unique opportunity for observationally constraining some key parameters in meteor physics, as its speed, mass, composition, and trajectory are all known with great precision - such is not the case for meteors. With this in mind, members of the Space Environments Team at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center were deployed to northern Nevada, equipped with comparatively simple optical instrumentation to observe Genesis as it made its way through the upper atmosphere in the morning hours of September 8, 2004. This paper describes the video observations and their analysis, compares the results with a simple photometric model, and assesses the science value of using spacecraft atmospheric entries as "calibrated meteors", particularly in regard to optical luminous efficiency. Implications for the Stardust reentry in January 2006 as well as future Shuttle reentries will be discussed.
Document ID
20050237053
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Cooke, William
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Swift, Wesley
(Raytheon Co. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Suggs, Robert
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: 2005 Division of Planetary Sciences Meeting
Location: Cambridge
Country: United Kingdom
Start Date: September 4, 2005
End Date: September 9, 2005
Sponsors: American Astronomical Society
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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