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At least 253 records · Page 14

An observation of LHR noise with banded structure by the sounding rocket S29 Barium-GEOS

The measurement of electrostatic and obviously locally produced noise near the lower hybrid frequency made by the sounding rocket S29 Barium-GEOS is reported. The noise is strongly related to the spin of the rocket and reaches well below the local lower hybrid resonance frequency. Above the altitude of 300 km the noise shows banded structure roughly organized by the hydrogen cyclotron frequency. Simultaneously with the banded structure, a signal near the hydrogen cyclotron frequency is detected. This signal is also spin related. The characteristics of the noise suggest that it is locally generated by the rocket payload disturbing the plasma. If this interpretation is correct we expect plasma wave experiments on other spacecrafts, e.g., the space shuttle to observe similar phenomena.

Koskinen, H. E. J.↗

High-resolution sounding rocket observations of large-amplitude Alfven waves

Shear Alfven waves with amplitudes greater than 100 mV/m were observed on two recent sounding rocket flights. The largest waveforms are best described as a series of step functions, rather than as broadband noise or as single frequency waves. Complete two-dimensional E and B measurements at 4-ms time resolution were made, showing a downward propagation direction and implying insignificant reflection from the ionosphere at frequencies greater than 1 Hz. Intense, field-aligned, low-energy electron fluxes accompany the waves. Acceleration of these electrons by the Alfven waves is shown to be feasible. The waves in at least one case have a sufficently large ponderomotive potential to generate the observed density fluctuations of order one.

Boehm, M. H.↗

Free Flight Ground Testing of ADEPT in Advance of the Sounding Rocket One Flight Experiment

The Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT) project will be conducting the first flight test of ADEPT, titled Sounding Rocket One (SR-1), in just two months. The need for this flight test stems from the fact that ADEPT's supersonic dynamic stability has not yet been characterized. The SR-1 flight test will provide critical data describing the flight mechanics of ADEPT in ballistic flight. These data will feed decision making on future ADEPT mission designs. This presentation will describe the SR-1 scientific data products, possible flight test outcomes, and the implications of those outcomes on future ADEPT development. In addition, this presentation will describe free-flight ground testing performed in advance of the flight test. A subsonic flight dynamics test conducted at the Vertical Spin Tunnel located at NASA Langley Research Center provided subsonic flight dynamics data at high and low altitudes for multiple center of mass (CoM) locations. A ballistic range test at the Hypervelocity Free Flight Aerodynamics Facility (HFFAF) located at NASA Ames Research Center provided supersonic flight dynamics data at low supersonic Mach numbers. Execution and outcomes of these tests will be discussed. Finally, a hypothesized trajectory estimate for the SR-1 flight will be presented.

Smith, B. P.↗

Determination of sounding rocket position and attitude from radar and magnetometer data

The techniques are described that were used to determine the trajectories and orientations of three sounding rockets instrumented to study the aurora. The radar plot board data were fitted to a near earth expansion of the force of gravity to determine the trajectory. Only onboard magnetometer data were used to determine the attitude of the payload with respect to the earth's magnetic field. Computer programs in the FORTRAN language are available which generate the trajectory and attitude parameters.

Pongratz, M.↗

Solar EUV irradiance derived from a sounding rocket experiment on November 10, 1988

Results are presented on the solar EUV irradiance measurements in the range 30-100 nm obtained in a sounding rocket experiment launched from the White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on November 10, 1988. The observed solar EUV irradiance was found to be about 20 percent less than the solar EUV flux from a proxy model based on the daily 10.7-cm solar flux and its 81-day mean and the AE-E solar EUV data taken in the 1970s. The November 10 measurement of the solar EUV flux provides a good calibration reference spectrum for the solar EUV instruments on the San Marco satellite.

Woods, Thomas N.↗

EUVS Sounding Rocket Payload

During the first half of this year (CY 1996), the EUVS project began preparations of the EUVS payload for the upcoming NASA sounding rocket flight 36.148CL, slated for launch on July 26, 1996 to observe and record a high-resolution (approx. 2 A FWHM) EUV spectrum of the planet Venus. These preparations were designed to improve the spectral resolution and sensitivity performance of the EUVS payload as well as prepare the payload for this upcoming mission. The following is a list of the EUVS project activities that have taken place since the beginning of this CY: (1) Applied a fresh, new SiC optical coating to our existing 2400 groove/mm grating to boost its reflectivity; (2) modified the Ranicon science detector to boost its detective quantum efficiency with the addition of a repeller grid; (3) constructed a new entrance slit plane to achieve 2 A FWHM spectral resolution; (4) prepared and held the Payload Initiation Conference (PIC) with the assigned NASA support team from Wallops Island for the upcoming 36.148CL flight (PIC held on March 8, 1996; see Attachment A); (5) began wavelength calibration activities of EUVS in the laboratory; (6) made arrangements for travel to WSMR to begin integration activities in preparation for the July 1996 launch; (7) paper detailing our previous EUVS Venus mission (NASA flight 36.117CL) published in Icarus (see Attachment B); and (8) continued data analysis of the previous EUVS mission 36.137CL (Spica occultation flight).

Stern, Alan S.↗

Flip-Flop Recovery System for sounding rocket payloads

The design, development, and testing of the Flip-Flop Recovery System, which protects sensitive forward-mounted instruments from ground impact during sounding rocket payload recovery operations, are discussed. The system was originally developed to reduce the impact damage to the expensive gold-plated forward-mounted spectrometers in two existing Taurus-Orion rocket payloads. The concept of the recovery system is simple: the payload is flipped over end-for-end at a predetermined time just after parachute deployment, thus minimizing the risk of damage to the sensitive forward portion of the payload from ground impact.

Flores, A., Jr.↗

Use of open-structure channel electron multipliers in sounding rocket experiments.

The performance of open-structure channel electron multipliers has been investigated in a laboratory simulation of the ascent pressure profile for a typical sounding rocket. The results of this test demonstrate that evacuation of the payload prior to launch is necessary for experiments where stability of response is an essential parameter.

Timothy, J. G.↗

High-resolution ultraviolet solar observations from sounding rockets and Spacelab

High spatial (about 1 arcsec) and temporal (20 sec) resolution UV solar spectroscopy has been carried out by the Naval Research Laboratory from sounding rockets since 1975. The High Resolution Telescope and Spectrograph payload, consisting of a 300 mm diameter x 4500 mm focal length Cassegrain telescope and the tandem Woodsworth spectrograph, was used to make the observations. Using this instrument, a multitude of highly energetic phenomena can be observed in the chromosphere, transition zone, and corona. High-resolution photographs of the UV continuum at 1600 A, used to study the fine structure and evolution of the temperature minimum layer, show that because of its strong spatial and temporal intensity fluctuations, the 1600 A continuum emission comes from not only the temperature minimum, but a variety of temperature regimes. Similar spatial and temporal behavior is seen in lower chromospheric lines of Si I. Typical line profiles of the C IV 1550 A line illustrate the fine structure and dynamics of the transition zone; the mass and energy flux balance in this zone is also determined.

Brueckner, G. E.↗

Recent observations of high voltage spacecraft-environment interaction at LEO altitudes using sounding rockets

The paper addresses the subject of the interaction of positively and negatively charged bodies with the terrestrial ionosphere at low earth orbit altitudes. Data from two recent sounding rocket flights are used to establish that the current collected by exposed conductors biassed positively at up to 45kV relative to the ionospheric plasma generally follow predictions which account for strong control of electron flow by the geomagnetic field. If the biased structure is in the vicinity of disturbing influences such as an emitted charged particle beam, or locally enhanced gas pressure, then large deviations from the space-charge-limited return currents occur.

Raitt, W. J.↗

Narrow-band EUV Multilayer Coating for the MOSES Sounding Rocket

The Multi-order Solar EUV Spectrograph (MOSES) is a slitless spectrograph designed to study solar He II emission at 303.8 Angstroms, to be launched on a sounding rocket payload. One difference between MOSES and other slitless spectrographs is that the images are recorded simultaneously at three spectral orders, m = -1,0, +l. Another is the addition of a narrow-band multilayer coating on both the grating and the fold flat, which will reject out-of-band lines that normally contaminate the image of a slitless instrument. The primary metrics f a the mating were high peak reflectivity and suppression of Fe XV and XVI emission lines at 284 Angstroms and 335 Angstroms, respectively. We chose B4C/Mg2Si for our material combination since it provides better values for all three metrics together than the other leading candidates Si/Ir, Si/B4C or Si/SiC. Measurements of witness flats at NIST indicate the peak reflectivity at 303.6 is 38.5% for a 15 bilayer stack, while the suppression at 284 Angstroms, is 4.5x and at 335 Angstroms is 18.3x for each of two reflections in the instrument. We present the results of coating the MOSES flight gratings and fold flat, including the spectral response of the fold flat and grating as measured at NIST's SURF III and Brookhaven's X24C beamline.

Owens, Scott M.↗

Sounding rocket flight report, MUMP 9 and MUMP 10

The results of the launching of two-Marshall-University of Michigan Probes (MUMP 9 and MUMP 10), Nike-Tomahawk sounding rocket payloads, are summarized. The MUMP is similar to the thermosphere probe, an ejectable instrument package for studying the variability of the earth's atmospheric parameters. The MUMP 9 payload included an omegatron mass analyzer, a molecular fluorescence densitometer, a mini-tilty filter, and a lunar position sensor. This complement of instruments permitted the determination of the molecular nitrogen density and temperature in the altitude range from approximately 143 to 297 km over Wallops Island, Virginia, during January 1971. The MUMP 10 payload included an omegatron mass analyzer, an electron temperature probe, a cryogenic densitometer, and a solar position sensor. These instruments permitted the determination of the molecular nitrogen density and temperature and the charged particle density and temperature in the altitude range from approximately 145 to 290 km over Wallops Island during the afternoon preceding the MUMP 9 launch.

Grassl, H. J.↗