This press release has multimedia. See the full version here: View from the Electron Amplifier Recovery Helicopter Returning to Earth by Parachute After Launch (Photo: Business Wire) “There And Back Again” The mission also saw the Rocket Lab complete an aerial capture of the Electron amplifier with a helicopter for the first time. After launching into space, Electron ‘first stage returned to Earth under a parachute. At 6,500 feet, the Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote Sikorsky S-92 helicopter was on its way back and used a long line hook to record the parachute line. Capture in the air is a major milestone in Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote’s pursuit of making the Electron a reusable rocket to increase launch frequency and reduce launch costs for small satellites. After the capture, the helicopter pilot spotted different payload characteristics than he had previously experienced in the tests and cleared the scene for a successful crash. The scene is loaded onto the Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote recovery vessel for transfer back to the Company & CloseCurlyQuote production unit for analysis and re-flight evaluation as scheduled. The catch comes after successful recovery operations from the Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote 16th, 20th and 22nd missions, during which Electron & CloseCurlyQuote’s first stage performs a controlled ocean dive before returning to Rocket Lably & CloseuoteC; Like these missions, a reaction control system redirects the first stage to an ideal angle for re-entry during the “There And Back Again” mission, allowing the scene to survive the incredible heat and pressure of its descent back to Earth. A drogue parachute was developed to increase resistance and stabilize the first stage as it descended, before developing a large main parachute in the last kilometers of descent. Today ‘s mission will inform about future helicopter arrests. “Bringing a rocket from space and catching it in a helicopter is like an ultrasonic ballet,” said Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. “A huge number of factors need to be aligned and a lot of systems need to work together perfectly, so I’m incredibly proud of the spectacular efforts of the Recovery Team and all of our engineers who accomplished this mission and our first catch. “From here we will evaluate the stage and determine what changes we may want to make to the system and procedures for the next helicopter capture and possible re-flight.” The “There And Back Again” mission was launched from Pad A at Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote’s Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula & CloseCurlyQuote at 10:49 a.m. NZST, May 3, 2022, developing satellites for Alba Orbital, Astrix Astronautics, Astronautics, Astronautics, Astronautics, Technologies and Unseenlabs. The mission raises the total number of satellites launched by the Rocket Lab to 146. Among the payloads used were satellites designed to monitor light pollution, demonstrate space debris removal technologies, improve power limitations, and reduce power limitations. technology for sustainable satellite systems that can avoid collisions with undetectable space objects, turn on the internet from space and rely on a constellation of marine surveillance. The next mission of Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote is scheduled for May 2022 with more details to be announced in the coming days. + Images & Video Content www.rocketlabusa.com/about-us/updates/link-to-rocket-lab-imagery-and-video/ + About Rocket Lab Rocket Lab was founded in 2006 and is an end-to-end space company with a well-established mission success history. We provide reliable launch services, satellite construction, spacecraft components and orbital management solutions that make space access faster, easier and more accessible. Based in Long Beach, California, Rocket Lab designs and builds the Electron small orbital launch vehicle and the Photon satellite platform, and develops the 8-tonne Neutron payload launch vehicle. Since its first orbital launch in January 2018, the Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote Electron launch vehicle has become the second most frequently launched rocket in the United States annually, delivering 146 orbiting satellites to private and public security scientific research and space. debris mitigation, earth observation, climate monitoring and communications. Rocket Lab & CloseCurlyQuote’s Photon spacecraft platform has been selected to support NASA’s missions to the Moon and Mars, as well as the first private commercial mission to Venus. Rocket Lab has three launch sites at two launch sites, including two launch sites at a private launch orbit in New Zealand and a second launch site in Virginia, USA, which is expected to be operational in 2022. To find out more, visit www. rocketlabusa.com. See the original version at businesswire.com:
