Conference 7.286::space

743.0. "NASA rockets to support international cloud study" by PRAGMA::GRIFFIN (Dave Griffin) Tue Jul 23 1991 12:46

RELEASE: 91-115  (7/22/91)

        Seven NASA sounding rockets will be part of an international
campaign to study polar Noctilucent Clouds (NLC), the highest and
coldest clouds on Earth, from Kiruna, Sweden, July 25 through August
12, 1991.

        During this 20-day period, researchers from the United States
and Europe will use aircraft, ground-based radars and rockets launched
from the Swedish Space Corporation managed ESRANGE Facility in Kiruna,
to study NLC. These clouds occur near an altitude of 52 miles only
during summer periods at northern polar latitudes.

        The purpose of the campaign is to gain an understanding of NLC
and their relationship to Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE),
unusual reflections of radar signals by the atmosphere.  These signals
have been obtained by ground- based radars in the area, according to
the United States' Principal Investigator Dr. Richard Goldberg.

        Dr.  Goldberg, who is on a two-year assignment to the National
Science Foundation from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in
Greenbelt, Md., said the campaign is the largest ever undertaken to
study these clouds and their relationship to the physics of the
region.

        Sounding rockets, with complementary U.S. and European
payloads, will be prepared for two launch sequences.  The nighttime
launches are expected to occur between midnight and 6 a.m. local time.

        The first sequence is planned for launch when NLC are clearly
visible, during or without the simultaneous occurrence of PMSE. The
second sequence will be launched when PMSE are reported to be very
strong, with or without the observation of NLC.

        According to campaign manager Geoff Bland, from Goddard's
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., the NASA rockets for
both sequences will be a Super Arcas, Nike-Orion and a Black Brant VB.
A third Super Arcas will be launched independently to further
investigate the scattering mechanism of PMSE. The Europeans will have
three Nike-Orions in the first sequence and one Nike-Orion in the
second.  In addition, NASA and European ViperDart meteorological
rockets will be launched before and after both sequences.

        The three NASA Super Arcas rockets will carry identical
Mesospheric Ionization Structure and Turbulence Investigation (MISTI)
payloads.  The scientific objective of these flights is to obtain
electron density profiles which will provide insight on the nature of
both NLC and PMSE. The principal investigator for the MISTI is Dr.
James Ulwick, from Utah State University.

        The two NASA Nike-Orion sounding rockets will carry identical
Penn State University Electrodynamics Payloads. These payloads, which
will be recovered, will measure electric fields and properties,
particles and the ionization background.  The principal investigator
is Dr. John Mitchell, from Penn State University.

        The final two NASA sounding rockets (Black Brant VBs) will
carry identical Electric-Field payloads, including U.S. and European
instruments.  Each payload, which also will be recovered, consists of
two separate payloads in a mother/daughter configuration.  The
daughter section is ejected on ascent to permit isolation of electric
field measurements from the main payload.

             The main payload, the mother section, will measure
electric fields, ionizing nighttime radiations, ion and electron
density and conductivity, and NLC structure.  Ascent and descent
measurements will be taken by both the mother and daughter payloads.
The principal investigator for the Electric-Field payloads is Dr.
Richard Goldberg.

        The European payloads will measure ion composition and water
clusters, NLC properties, and small scale waves and turbulence.  The
meteorological rockets will provide accurate wind and temperature data
within the main region of interest.

    Is there any information on who is involved in this from Europe? Which
    research organisations? Names of investigators?
    
    Dave Hazel

    I'm pretty sure ESRANGE has some tie in to ESA. You might try asking
    your question on Usenet's sci.space. There are some folks associated
    with ESA who appear there from time to time.
    
    gary

    How do I get into Usenet?
    
    
    Dave Hazel