Reentry Breakup Recorder: Summary of Data for HTV3 and ATV-3 Reentries and Future Directions

In late 2012, Japan's H-II Transfer Vehicle, HTV3, and the European Automated Transfer Vehicle, ATV-3, both ended their International Space Station (ISS) resupply missions by reentering the atmosphere and breaking apart due to atmospheric heating and loads, with debris landing in the South Pacific Ocean. Both vehicles carried a Reentry Breakup Recorder (REBR) that recorded and transmitted acceleration, attitude rate, and other data during the reentry and breakup. This paper provides samples of the data collected for these two missions. REBR is collecting the first in-situ data on the breakup of unprotected space hardware during reentry, data that will increase our understanding of reentry breakup and lead to space hardware designs that pose less of a hazard to people and property when they reenter.