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T0214-B

Technology demonstration of the KRUPS capsule for heat-shield validation

PI: Alexandre Martin, William Smith (Co-I), University of Kentucky

The Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS) is a small re-entry capsule designed as a technology test-bed, built at the University of Kentucky. For its first incarnation, KRUPS has been designed to test Thermal Protection System (TPS) material and instrumentation. TPS are used to protect spacecraft from the extreme conditions of planetary entry. The overall objective is to launch KRUPS from the International Space Station, and use the capsule to obtain atmospheric entry data for numerical model validation. To reach that step, a series of system validation steps are needed to raise the TRL to a flight-ready status. This flight demonstration aims to bring the TRL from 5 to 6 by performing two stratospheric drop tests.

Paper from earlier sounding rocket flight test: Overview of the second test-flight of the Kentucky Re-entry Universal Payload System (KRUPS)

Technology Areas (?)
  • TA14 Thermal Management Systems
Technology Maturation

The balloon drop tests will validate the on-board electronics and the communication system. They will also validate two new sub-systems: an industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) band radio and a parachute.

Technology Details

  • Selection Date
    REDDI-F1-18 (Aug 2018)
  • Program Status
    Active
  • Current TRL (?)
    Unknown
    Successful FOP Flights
  • 0 Balloon

Development Team

Web Accessibility and Privacy Notices Curator: Alexander van Dijk Responsible NASA Official: Stephan Ord Last Update: November 16, 2018