Army Research Lab Designs NASA Image Recovery Tech

The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has built a device that aims to help NASA locate recording platforms meant to capture spacecraft decelerators’ image data, DoD Live reported Thursday.

ARL’s Flight Imagery Recorder Locator contains a satellite communications moden, GPS receiver, dual-band antenna and batteries, according to the article.

Rex Hall, an ARL project lead engineer, said the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., is testing atmospheric drag technology intended to launch at supersonic speeds and decelerate a space vehicle for safe landing, the report states.

DoD Live reports the waterproof FirLo hardware turns on automatically once on the ocean surface and then it transmits data with location coordinates.

JPL is slated to demonstrate the image recorder and locator in the first quarter of fiscal 2014.

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