I.
Oriole Launch Vehicle Development
The
Sounding Rocket Working Group is following with great interest the
development
of the Oriole launch vehicle. A
Terrier-Oriole configuration launched from White Sands Missile Range
could provide significantly (~30%) longer time at altitude for
astrophysics and
solar physics payloads as compared with Black Brant configurations. Of added importance, the Oriole could also
accommodate larger-diameter payloads (up to 30 inches) and therefore
larger
telescopes. Such telescopes would enable
new scientific investigations because of their ability to study faint
cosmic
sources or time-variable solar activity at high, and in some cases
unprecedented, angular resolution. The
expanded range of potential investigations could be expected to attract
new
investigators to sounding rocket science, which has long been limited
by the
performance of Black Brant vehicles.
The
Sounding Rocket Working Group would like to understand better the
Oriole
development plan and how it interacts with other programs such as the
High
Altitude Sounding Rocket. For example,
has definite funding been identified to develop the necessary
supporting
systems such as boost guidance and fine pointing for 30-inch payloads,
thrust
termination, and recovery? Has funding
been identified for an initial motor buy? What
is the potential impact on the flight rate of
existing
configurations? When is it anticipated
that investigators will be invited to propose payloads for the
Oriole? While
the Working Group recognizes the many uncertainties involved, a nominal
schedule would stimulate research groups to conceive new experiments
and carry
out preliminary studies so that, when the vehicle is available, it will
immediately attract both exciting and feasible scientific proposals.
II.
Nihka Motor Availability
The
Sounding Rocket Working Group is alarmed to learn that Nihka motors are
no
longer being manufactured, and that Wallops' current inventory of these
motors
is only 10-12 units, of which 2-3 are already committed to funded
missions. Any NASA sounding rocket
experiment with apogee above 1000 km currently requires a Nihka motor. Further, the Nihka is the only motor
currently used in the sounding rocket program that can burn
exo-atmospherically. This capability is
required for any flight employing a complex trajectory in which the
final stage
and payload are reoriented prior to final stage ignition -- as was
carried out
successfully on the recent 35.034 Conde/HEX mission.
Since considerable ongoing demand is
anticipated for high alitude payloads as well as those that re-orient
their final
stage, the Nihka capabilities are considered absolutely essential to
the NASA
Sounding Rocket Program. Therefore, the
SRWG strongly urges NASA/Sounding Rocket Program to either:
(a) Discuss with
Bristol Aerospace their decision to
cease manufacturing
Nihkas;
(b) Identify and test
an alternative off-the-shelf
replacement for the
Nihka;
(c) Consider developing a
new motor with Nihka-like capabilities.
The
SRWG believes that it is imperative that a replacement for the Nihka
motor be
secured prior to the elimination of the current inventory at Wallops.
III.
Mesospheric Sounding Rocket
The
SRWG strongly encourages Wallops to continue development of a
Mesospheric
Sounder, and are pleased that a suitable motor has been identified. The mesosphere region (60-100 km) has long
been identified as one in which the only means to gather in situ
measurements
is the sounding rocket, as noted in several previous findings of the
SRWG.
The
Mesospheric Sounder represents a possible new direction in mesospheric
studies
towards coordinated experiments that study spatial and temporal
variations in
the mesosphere. Such campaigns would
consist of ground-based observations, satellite measurements, and/or
complementary larger sounding rocket payloads launched in conjunction
with in
situ measurements gathered by multiple launches of Mesospheric Sounders. In order to define potential experiments for
the sounder, the science community needs information about the nominal
performance specifications for these vehicles. These
include their nominal payload diameters (e.g.,
4 to 6 inch),
apogees for a nominal mass, how position or trajectory information as
well as
attitude information will be obtained and at what accuracy, power, ACS
systems,
to align the payload forward end either with the ram direction or the
magnetic
field direction, and the feasibility of a portable system with the
capability
of multiple launches over the course of a few hours.
The
SRWG requests an update on the status of the vehicle procurement and
flight
testing, as well as nominal performance specifications for this new
vehicle
system. We seek this information not
only to determine how well the designated vehicle meets the desired
performance
criteria, but also to enable the community to prepare important and
feasible
experiments to propose when the vehicle becomes operational.
The
SRWG would like information on the schedule for the development of the
Mesospheric Sounder and looks forward to learning of plans for the
initial
vehicle flight tests.
IV.
Water and Air Recovery from Wallops
The
Sounding Rocket Working Group underscores the clear and pressing need
to
develop as quickly as possible the technologies required to support the
recovery of heavy, high flying payloads launched from the Wallops
Flight
Facility. This effort would have both
near and long term benefits, especially for payloads with high
development
costs as well as astronomy payloads. In
the near term, recovery of heavy payloads at Wallops would enable the
use of BBX, BBXI, and BBXII delivery
systems, with
high flying performance envelopes that preclude their use at WSMR. This would allow an immediate factor of two
gain in observing time over that of astronomy payloads currently
launched on
BBIX's. In the long term, such systems
could then serve as a model for development of a recovery technology
for the
High Altitude Sounding Rocket (HASR) payloads.
The
SRWG encourages NSROC and the Sounding Rocket Project Office to rapidly
mature
the development of either water or air recovery systems for high flying
payloads with as much as 1000 lbs of reentry mass.
V.
Launches from Wallops
The
Sounding Rocket Working Group continues to be concerned about the
difficulties
of launching out of Wallops due to conflicts with various naval,
commercial and
recreational ships and boats. Although
we understand that Wallops has taken some steps to mitigate this
problem, we
would like further insight concerning how the range is controlled, who
has
authority over the range, and what sorts of obstacles and planning an
experimenter might have to consider when developing a research program
based on
sounding rocket launches from Wallops.
Thinking
ahead, as water/and or air recoveries become a reality and the High
Altitude
Sounding Rockets come into use, we anticipate that more missions will
be
launched from the Wallops launch site. This
will put increasing demands on the launch
availability of the WFF
range. We therefore seek to understand
the current policies of the Wallops Launch Range
and seek ways to improve these policies to optimize the use of the
Wallops
Flight Facility as a launch range in the future.
NASA
Sounding Rocket Working Group
Dr.
Robert F. Pfaff, Jr. (Chair)
NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center
Dr.
Mark Conde
University of Alaska
Dr.
Tim Cook
Boston University
Dr.
Lynette Gelinas
Cornell University
Dr.
Jim Green
University of Colorado
Dr.
Walt Harris
University of Wisconsin
Dr.
James LaBelle
Dartmouth College
Dr.
Gerald Lehmacher
Clemson University
Dr.
Dan McCammon
University of Wisconsin
Dr.
Doug Rabin
NASA/Goddard
Space Flight Center
Dr.
Charles Swenson
Utah State University
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