Space the beyond

Louise Walker and J.T. Heineck of the Experimental Aero-Physics Branch at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., are learning how to see shape and detail in blindingly bright plumes of rocket fire. The two researchers were funded by the Space Shuttle Program to document the final shuttle launch, STS-135, with their distinctive images. Image fusion is a technique which begins with image files taken simultaneously at nearly identical angles and positions, each with different filters. The images are processed through minute alignment and warping to match camera angles precisely and account for the inches between each camera’s position. The technique could have significant benefits for future space transportation systems, through imaging new rocket motor development and the Ames arc jets, which test aerothermodynamic heating a spacecraft endures throughout atmospheric re-entry and tests of thermal protection systems and materials.