Surface-Draped Fiber Captured Plane's Flight Details at Nevada Airfield

Surface-draped fiber captured plane's flight details at Nevada airfield

Originally deployed to record re-entry signals of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule, a T-shaped fiber optic cable draped across the ground at a Nevada airfield also captured unique aspects of a Cessna 172's speed and maneuvering.

Fiber-Optic Sensor Captures Precise Flight Data at Nevada Airfield

In a groundbreaking deployment at a Nevada airfield, researchers have demonstrated the extraordinary capabilities of fiber optic technology combined with seismic sensing to capture detailed data on aircraft flight dynamics. Originally installed to monitor the re-entry signals of NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule, a T-shaped fiber optic cable strategically laid out on the airfield’s surface unexpectedly recorded intricate details of a Cessn…

Surface-Draped Fiber Captured Plane’s Flight Details at Nevada Airfield | Seismological Society of America

16 April 2026—Originally deployed to record re-entry signals of the OSIRIS-REx return capsule, a T-shaped fiber optic cable draped across the ground at a Nevada airfield also captured unique aspects of a Cessna 172’s speed and maneuvering. Researchers at the 2026 SSA Annual Meeting said the findings help demonstrate the potential for rapid deployment of fiber optic cable and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) in environments where burying the ca…