NASA SOAREX 7 (condensed) launch video from Wallops Island, VA on May 28, 2009. This was a test of a prototype "TDRV," or Tube Deployed Reentry Vehicle designed and built by NASA Ames Research Center. The TDRV is unique in that it has a deployable, flexible heatshield and utilizes a revolutionary geometry which is entirely self-stabilizing, requiring no alignment or spin-stabilization prior to entry. At 15 seconds, TDRV ejection is seen from the rocket. At 22 seconds, the view switches to TDRV onboard video, and shows the vehicle passively go from a tumbling state to stable nose-down entry.
