Report to the Department of Defense on Infrasonic Re-entry Signals From the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) (Revision 3.0)

HR: 14:00h
AN: U32B-02 INVITED [PDF]
TI: Report to the Department of Defense on Infrasonic Re-entry Signals From the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) (Revision 3.0)
AU: * Bass, H E
EM: pabass@olemiss.edu
AF: University of Mississippi, 1 Coliseum Dr., University, MS 38677 United States
AU: Tenney, S
AF: U. S. Army Research Laboratory, 2800 Powder Mill Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783 United States
AU: Clark, P
AF: U. S. Army Research Laboratory, 2800 Powder Mill Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783 United States
AU: Noble, J
AF: U. S. Army Research Laboratory, 2800 Powder Mill Rd., Adelphi, MD 20783 United States
AU: Gibson, R
AF: BBN Technologies, 1300 North 17th St., Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Norris, D
AF: BBN Technologies, 1300 North 17th St., Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Bhattacharyya, J
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Bondar, I
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Israelsson, H
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: North, R
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Skov, M
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Woodward, R
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Yang, X
AF: Science Applications International Corporation, 1300 North 17th St., Suite 1450, Arlington, VA 22209 United States
AU: Whitaker, R
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P. O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Sandoval, T
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P. O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Revelle, D
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P. O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Bedard, A
AF: NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/ET1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Nishiyama, R
AF: NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/ET1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Gasiewski, A
AF: NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/ET1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Drob, D
AF: U. S. Naval Research Laboratory, 4555 Overlook Ave., S.W., Washington, DC 20375 United States
AU: Hedlin, M
AF: University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093 United States
AU: D'Spain, G
AF: University of California, San Diego, 291 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA 92106 United States
AU: Murray, J J
AF: University of California, San Diego, 291 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA 92106 United States
AU: Rovner, G
AF: University of California, San Diego, 291 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA 92106 United States
AU: Berger, L
AF: University of California, San Diego, 291 Rosecrans St., San Diego, CA 92106 United States
AU: Garces, M
AF: University of Hawaii, 73-4460 Queen Kaahumanu Hwy. #119, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 United States
AU: Hetzer, C
AF: University of Hawaii, 73-4460 Queen Kaahumanu Hwy. #119, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740 United States
AU: Herrin, E
AF: Southern Methodist University, Department of Geological Sciences P.O. Box 750395, Dallas, TX 75275-0395 United States
AU: Hayward, C
AF: Southern Methodist University, Department of Geological Sciences P.O. Box 750395, Dallas, TX 75275-0395 United States
AB: Infrasound signals recorded by ten stations during the reentry of Shuttle STS-107, are analyzed in an attempt to better understand the cause of this tragedy. These prototype infrasound stations recorded clear signals from this shuttle as well as from several previous missions. As sound passes through the atmosphere, stratification of winds and temperature as well as turbulence modifies the received signal. Sound propagating from source to receiver along different paths can arrive at the receiver at different times giving rise to bursts of signal. A single impulsive event such as a shock wave or an explosion might give rise to several clear receptions. Consequently, it is difficult to separate nearby events from atmospheric multi-path effects. Below and to each side of the shuttle path, there is a sonic boom carpet. Receivers within this carpet recorded the Shuttle's sonic boom, while outside the carpet, signals similar to those from subsonic sources were observed. These infrasound arrays can determine the direction of the signal. When combining these data with the trajectory of the shuttle, we find the primary signal is located from near the direction of the shuttle's closest approach (or slightly West of that location) to within the few tens of km accuracy usually associated with infrasound localizations. This means that there do not appear to be other sources of infrasound in the vicinity of the shuttle. All stations observed multiple arrivals associated with sound generated during the approach of the shuttle. These arrivals may be explained by multiple paths through the atmosphere but it is possible that some come from fragments or debris. The U. S. infrasound community has not examined in detail shuttle reentry signals in the past so it is difficult to identify anomalies in the signal. Our analysis team compared signals recorded for STS-107 to flights STS-77, STS-78, and STS-90 which had similar re-entry trajectories but fewer infrasound stations on line. The sonic boom waveforms from each mission were different in detail but essentially the same in major features. Noticeable differences in the STS-107 signals were an especially long (almost an hour) acoustic signal following the sonic boom coming from the West. There was a less clear indication of a change in the recorded waveform over the CA-NV border region. There is insufficient data from previous missions to determine if such a change is expected.
DE: 3307 Boundary layer processes
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 7299 General or miscellaneous
DE: 8419 Eruption monitoring (7280)
DE: 9810 New fields (not classifiable under other headings)
SC: U
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting