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| A Project FIRE 2 launch cover from "Celestial", postmarked at Cape Canaveral with a machine cancel on May 22, 1965. |
Project FIRE 2 (Flight Investigation of Reentry) was a NASA high-speed reentry experiment designed to simulate the conditions of a spacecraft returning from the Moon. FIRE 2 was designed to validate and improve upon the first experiment, FIRE 1. NASA made several modifications, including revised heat-shield ejection timing, additional pressure sensors, and an improved system for keeping the reentry vehicle separated from the spent Antares motor. This was important because FIRE 1 had experienced undesirable motion caused by the spent motor remaining too close to the reentry vehicle. The spacecraft entered the atmosphere at roughly 11.3 km/s, generating temperatures comparable to those expected during a lunar-return trajectory.
