Recoverable Ethernet Flight Data Recorder

SpaceX Engineering, 2014-15

Liaison(s): Casey Schilling ’08, William Ferenc ’13, Steven Schmitz, Matthew Sunderland, Kendall Correll
Advisor(s): Albert Dato
Students(s): Graham Gordon (TL-S), Gourav Khadge (TL-F), Robert Gambee, Eric Kiss (F), Kristina Ming, Kaitlin Kimberling(S)

The Clinic Project is to design, build, test, and qualify a recoverable Ethernet flight data recorder, a better black box, that can be used on SpaceX rockets. The recorder must log data in high vibration environments and survive the extreme conditions of rocket ascent, stage separation, and possible vehicle failure. It must also be easily recoverable in the event of catastrophic vehicle failure in the ocean or high altitude.