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May 23, 2007
NASA Funds Universities' New Experiments for Suborbital Flights
WASHINGTON
- NASA has selected four universities to conduct suborbital
scientific research that is a new step in reinvigorating
the agency's sounding rocket science program.
Managed out of NASA's
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va., the sounding rocket
program offers a low-cost test bed for new scientific
studies and techniques, scientific instrumentation and spacecraft technology. Launches
take place world-wide, including from Wallops, the White Sands
Missile Range, N.M., and Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska.
"NASA's
sounding rocket program also is one of the most
cost effective ways to train future orbital science mission
team members and principle investigators, giving them hands-on space
flight experience," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for the
Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington. "I hope this
effort will be a catalyst for more suborbital work
conducted for space science and Earth science research."
NASA's Science
Mission Directorate funded approximately $4.2 million in grants. Two
are university-led science investigations from proposals selected by the
directorate's heliophysics division, and the directorate's astrophysics division selected
two others. These four payloads supplement the existing astrophysics
and heliophysics rocket programs.
Proposals, evaluated by a NASA scientific
panel and external reviewers, were selected based on scientific
and technical merits, costs and relevance to NASA programs.
Grants will be funded from between two to five
years with research launches planned to occur between 2008
and 2010.
The newly selected university payloads are:
University of Wisconsin,
Madison/Kenneth Nordsieck, Principle Investigator (PI)
"Exploring New Astrophysical Diagnostics with
the Far-Ultraviolet SpectroPolarimeter." The payload will make astronomical polarization
measurements in the far ultraviolet and explore new diagnostics
of the geometry and magnetic fields in stellar envelopes
and interstellar medium.
Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H./Kristina Lynch (PI). Partnering
universities: University of Alaska, Fairbanks; University of New Hampshire,
Durham; Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.
"The Changing Aurora: in Situ
and Camera Analysis of Dynamic Electron Precipitation Structures." The
payload will perform multi camera investigations of substorm auroras
and their variations.
University of Colorado, Boulder/James Green (PI)
"Imaging and
Spectroscopy in the Far Ultraviolet." The payload will perform
investigations of the ratio of molecular hydrogen to carbon
monoxide found in gas clouds of other galaxies to
accurately determine the masses of those galaxies.
University of
Southern California, Los Angeles/Darrell Judge (PI)
"A New Advanced Extreme
Ultraviolet Optics Free Spectrometer." The payload will test a
new photoelectron focusing system that may be used for
future solar observations for calibration for space research.
NASA sounding
rockets provide brief flights into space for payloads that
include atmospheric probes, astronomy telescopes, detectors and other technology
and science investigations. Users include corporations, universities and a
host of government agencies and other institutions.
Numerous high
profile NASA satellite missions have been enabled or enhanced
by technology and techniques developed using sounding rockets. Many
NASA instrument and mission principal investigators received their start
in space experimentation participating in sounding rocket missions.
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