ATMOSPHERIC REENTRY DEMONSTRATOR

These photos of ESA's ARD were taken in October 1999 at the 50th International Astronautical Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The ARD was launched with the third Ariane-5 rocket on October 21, 1998. It was released from the Ariane-5 12 minutes into the flight at 218 km altitude. After a flight of 1 hour and 41 minutes the ARD landed in the Pasific Ocean between Hawaii and Marquise Island, only 4.9 km of target. It was recovered by two French navy ships, the Le Revi and the frigate Prairial.

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