NASA Sounding Rocket Capabilities June 19 2008 Sounding

NASA Sounding Rocket Capabilities June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 1

June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 2

Services Provided • • Launch Vehicles Payload Development – Attitude Control Systems • • • Magnetic Inertial (coarse pointing and velocity vector tracking) Celestial – Telemetry Systems • • Multiple links 10 Mb/s data rates Command uplink Video down link – Recovery Systems – Boost Guidance Systems • Aerodynamic control for early portion of powered flight – Deployment Systems • • Mission Analysis Operations Support – Mobile range development – Launcher servicing and erection – Field operations June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 3

Payloads • Electric and magnetic field measurements • Particle detection • Scramjet testing • Reentry body testing • Astronomical and solar telescopes • Multiple free-flying payload bodies • Microgravity • Air sampling June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 4

Launch Sites Map provided by www. theodora. com w/ permission June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 5

From cold to hot, then from hot to cold, and everything in between… June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 6

Vehicles and Performance Capabilities June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 7

Liftoff and Flight Sequence June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 8

Launch Vehicles 1800 Black Brant X Mod 1 (35) 1600 Black Brant XII (40) 1400 1200 (km) Altitude Figure 1 Apogee Black Brant X (35) 1000 800 Vehicle Types 600 400 Black Brant XI (39) Black Brant (21) Terrier Black Brant Mod 2 (36) 200 Terrier Black Brant (36) Terrier Orion (41) Orion (30) 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1600 1400 Payload Weight (pounds) June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 9

Terrier-Orion June 19, 2008 Terrier-Brant BBXI Sounding Rocket Program Office BBXII 10

Other Vehicles Currently Not in the Core Inventory Custom vehicle stacks can be investigated… Terrier Oriole Terrier-Lynx June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 11

Talos-Oriole • • • Payload Weights: 500 to 1500 lbs. Payload Diameters: 22 to 30 in. Apogee: 350 to 500 km Time above 100 km: 450 to 500 sec Descent Mach Number: 8 to 10 Design Approx 90% complete. 30” payload hardware built. June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 12

Vehicle Number of Flights Orion (30. xxx) 33 Black Brant (21. xxx) 40 Nike Orion (31. xxx) 92 Taurus Orion (33. xxx) 40 Terrier Malemute (29. xxx) 15 Terrier Orion (41. xxx) 15 Terrier Lynx (42. xxx) 3 Nike Black Brant (27. xxx) 56 Black Brant IX (36. xxx) 175 Black Brant X (35. xxx) 29 Black Brant XI (39. xxx) 2 Black Brant XII (40. xxx) 17 Other (Arcas, Viper-Dart, Super Lokidart, etc. ) 98 TOTAL June 19, 2008 97% vehicle success rate 615 Sounding Rocket Program Office 13

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Telemetry Systems June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 15

Telemetry Capabilities • Multiple S-band links possible • 10 mb/s data rates • Digital and Analog data channels • Many Options Available – – Telemetry System On-board GPS Command Uplink Video downlink GLN-MAC gyro GPS Unit June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office Instrumented Test Article 16

Attitude Control Systems June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 17

NSROC Magnetic ACS (NMACS) • Primary sensor is the Bartington MAG-03 MS 3 -axis magnetometer • Orientation accuracy of 5 degrees or less • Can Accommodate spin rates between 0. 5 and 4. 0 hz • Can accommodate 1 or 2 gas tanks (200 – 400 cu in) • 14” and 17. 26” dia systems have been flown • Flight History – 3 Developmental – 14 Operational June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 18

Magnetic ACS Air Bearing Test June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 19

Magnetic ACS Developmental Flight June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 20

NSROC Inertial ACS (NIACS) • Based on the GLNMAC Inertial Platform • Simultaneous multi-axis maneuvering – Maximizes science observation time • Can accommodate 1 to 4 gas tanks (200 – 800 cu in) • Real-time GUI display using telemetry data • Flight History – 4 Developmental – 3 Operational • Velocity Vector Tracking Option – Orient payload’s spin axis parallel to the Velocity Vector – Utilizes the GPS in the telemetry system – Flight computer calculates real time velocity vector – Provides less than 1 degree tracking June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 21

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NSROC Celestial ACS • System – – – ST-5000 Star tracker Coarse fiberoptic gyro Fine resolution fiberoptic gyro Cold gas pneumatics system Linear Thrust Module • Pointing to within 0. 2 arcsec 1 sigma on each axis – Fine pointing achieved using a linear thrust module (-160 to +160 arcsec/sec 2 acceleration) • Flight History Celestial ACS – 2 Developmental – 2 Operational • Sub arc-sec pointing on both flights June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 23

Special Sensors June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 24

NSROC(a) • Miniaturized Attitude Determination Sensor – Based on Army Research Lab design • Attitude determined via post flight data reduction • 1 -Sigma Sensor Accuracy – Magnetometer……… 2 deg – Sun Vector Sensor. … 1 deg – Rate Sensor………… 0. 1 deg/sec • Orientation computed to 3 deg accuracy June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 25

Gimbaled LN-200 w/ Miniature Airborne Computer (GLNMAC) • Relatively low cost • Based on Sandia design – Uses a Fiber. Optic gyro • Specifications – Roll stabilized • 6 hz spin rate (potentially higher) – Acceleration………… up to 40 g’s – Bias Repeatability…. . 1 deg/hr – Bandwidth…………… 100 hz • Multiple piggy-back flight tests conducted to built flight heritage prior to being used in a control mode • Manufactured at Wallops – 40 flight units have been built to date June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office Fiberoptic Gyro with internal flight computer 26

ST 5000 Star Tracker • • • Developed by University of Wisconsin under NASA contract Lost in Space capability Specs – – – • Field of View……. . 5. 4 x 7. 4 deg Sensitivity………. . . -1 to +8 magnitude TM Downlink…. . … 19. 2 Kbaud RS 232 Star Tracking……. up to 32 stars Spin Rates………. up to 0. 5 deg/sec Camera Head Future plans call for miniaturization of both the camera head and electronics Electronics Box June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 27

Recovery June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 28

Recovery Options • Standard 14” and 17. 26” dia. systems available • Custom systems can be developed to meet unique needs • Land, water and mid-air recovery possible June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 29

Unique Support June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 30

Custom Systems and Components June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 31

Mission Applications June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 32

Depressed Trajectories • Launch elevations between 45 and 75 degrees June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 33

Tailored Sounding Rocket Trajectory Motor Burn ACS Realigns P/L to Velocity Vector or Other Reference Motor Separation Thrust Vector Delta-V Produces New Resultant Velocity Vector ACS Realignment Thrust Vector Realigned Ballistic Trajectory 350 300 Tailored Trajectory Post-Boost Coast Velocity and Thrust Vector Co. Aligned km altitude 250 200 150 100 50 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 km downrange June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office Gravity 34

Lessard simulation depicting deployment of rocket propelled subpayloads June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 35

Mission planning lab video using actual flight data June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 36

Facilities June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 37

Mechanical Fabrication Facility Multiple Air Bearing Labs June 19, 2008 Electrical Fabrication Facility Integration and Test Labs Sounding Rocket Program Office 38

3 -axis Vibration Spin Balance June 19, 2008 Thermal Vacuum Load Testing Sounding Rocket Program Office Physical Properties Static and Spin Deployment 39

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Outreach & Training • Colorado Space Grant Rocket Flight Workshop – NASA Space Grant Office providing funding to defray vehicle cost – Wallops launch of Orion vehicle – June launch • USERS (University Student Experiment Ride Share) – Concept • Four universities per flight • Wallops launch of Terrier-Orion vehicle • Competitively selected university to serve as experiment integrator • Competitively selected experiments – Pilot project under development • Two schools identified • November launch Workshop June 19, 2008 USERS Student Program Sounding Rocket Program Office Science Program 41

Educational (and Fun) June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 42

Contact Information Philip Eberspeaker Chief, Sounding Rockets Program Office 757 -824 -2202 philip. j. eberspeaker@nasa. gov Tripp Ransone Asst. Chief, Sounding Rockets Program Office 757 -824 -1089 emmitt. d. ransone@nasa. gov June 19, 2008 Sounding Rocket Program Office 43