Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System (USERS) as an Unmanned On-Orbit Experiment Infrastructure

Abstract

In the early morning of May 30, 2003 (JST), the reentry capsule, so called Recovery Vehicle (REV) of the USERS Spacecraft, has been splashed down at Northern Pacific, east of Ogasawara Islands, and was successfully recovered after approximately 8.5 months of on-orbit operation. The USERS spacecraft consist of the Service Module (SEM) and the Re-entry Module (REM) which includes the REV. It was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on September 10, 2002, and performed the Super-conductive Bulk Material Processing Experiment (SMAP) using three of the Super-conductive Bulk Processing Gradient Heating Furnaces (SGHF) installed in the REM. After approximately 6 months of the experiment operation, the preparation for the return such as the orbit adjustment, transfer for the Phase Repeating Orbit (PRO) have been conducted, and actual reentry and recovery operation have been successfully conducted. The micro-gravity conditions during the experiment operation and the actual operability of the USERS were satisfactory, and an unmanned on-orbit experiment infrastructure has been verified and established.