https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20190025970 2019-08-31T14:17:11+00:00Z

NASA Sounding Rockets Program

Giovanni Rosanova Program Manager

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 1 Sounding Rockets Program Office Organization

Program Manager (Giovanni Rosanova)

Deputy Program Manager (John Hickman)

Business Technical Payload Vehicle Systems Safety and Manager Manager Systems Manager Mission NSROC COR Projects Projects Operations Operations Operations Manager (Chuck Brodell) Assurance (Julie Bloxom) Export Control Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager (Brian Hall) Manager (Carsell Milliner) (Libby West) (Gordon Marsh) (Nathan Empson) (Scott Bissett) (vacant) (Todd Thornes)

Project Support Specialist (Valerie Jagow) Technology Grants and Admin Manager (Contractor) (Cathy Hesh)

Resources Analyst Resources Analyst Embedded Embedded (Jennifer McIntyre) Reimbursables Mechanical Electrical (matrix) (Wyle Maddox) (matrix) Engineer Engineer (Josh Yacobucci) (Scott Hesh) (matrix) (matrix)

2 Nature of the NASA Sounding Rockets Program • Characteristics ‒Low cost o Part of the NASA Low Cost Access to Space (LCAS) program ‒ Quick turn around ‒ Rely on military surplus rocket motors as much as possible to reduce cost ‒ Acceptance of higher technical risk

o Lower consequence Student and faculty members inspect o Higher probability of issues or failure their instrument prior to integration with ‒ Minimalistic project teams the university outreach payload RockSat-X ‒ Highly flexible and agile ‒ Non Mil‐Spec components ‒ Governed by NPR 7120.8 (Research and Technology) ‒ World‐wide mobile operations ‒ Implemented via the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) • Highly successful for NASA Science Mission Directorate ‒ Cutting edge science is being conducted ‒ Enables instrument development that ports into future orbital missions ‒ Scientist development Science team members during recovery operation to retrieve their payload at White Sands Missile Range NASA Sounding Rockets Program 3 Services Provided

• Payload Development – Attitude Control Systems • Magnetic, Inertial, Rate Control, Celestial, Solar – Telemetry Systems • 10 Mb/s standard, 20 Mb/s available • Command uplink & Video downlink – Payload Recovery Systems – Boost Guidance Systems • Aerodynamic control for early portion of powered flight – Experiment Structures – Deployment Systems • Mission Analysis – Flight performance – Ground and Flight Safety • Launch Vehicles • Operations Support – Mobile range development – Launcher servicing and erection – Field operations • Technology Development

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 4 NSROC details

Support Provided:

• Contract Program Management • Project Management – ~50 ongoing flight projects • Hardware Procurement • Engineering Design – Payloads and missions – Flight performance analysis – Flight subsystem tech development • Fabrication Support – Sounding rocket activities – Wallops activities (customer funded) • Environmental Testing – Vibration, balance, vacuum, deploy, etc. – Sounding Rocket activities – Wallops activities (customer funded) • CONUS logistics support • Field operations support

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 5 Launch Vehicles

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 6 Sounding Rocket Performance 1600

Black Brant mk1 XII

1400 1200

1200 1100

Black Brant mk1 X Mod 1 1000 1000 Typical Altitudes and Weights for Auroral 900 Physics Payloads 800

Apogee Altitude (km) Apogee Altitude 800

Black Brant mk1 IX Mod 2 Typical Altitudes and Weights for (seconds) Above 100 Km Time 700 600 Astronomy, Planetary, Solar, and Black Brant mk1 IX Microgravity Payloads Mod 0 600 Terrier mk70-Lynx 400 Black Brant mk1 XI 500

Terrier mk70-Imp. Orion 400

200 Terrier mk12-Imp. Orion Terrier mk70-Oriole 300 Terrier mk70-Imp. Malemute 200 Black Brant mk1 V 100 100 Km Improved Orion

200 400 600 800 1000 Typically Chemical release and Experiment Weight (lbs) educational payloads NASA Sounding Rockets Program 7 Program Success Rates

Sounding Rocket Mission Success Rate (All Flights) 100

90

85% Metric

80 Success Rate (%)

70 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Fiscal Year thus far

Sounding Rocket Mission Success Rate (All Flights) Note: Mission success includes 100 all aspects of the mission: NSROC, science 90 instruments, science, 85% Metric range support. 80 Success Rate (%)

70 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Fiscal Year thus far

8 NSROC Success Rates

NSROC Mission Success Rate (All Flights) 100

90

85% Metric

80 Success Rate (%)

70 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Fiscal Year thus far

NSROC Mission Success Rate (All Flights) The SRPO and NSROC strive 100 to make our support systems as reliable as 90 practical given Program 85% Metric resources. 80 Success Rate (%)

70 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Fiscal Year thus far

9 World-Wide Operations

Alaska Svalbard (Norway) (Poker)

Norway

Wallops

Sweden White Sands

Peru

The Sounding Rocket Program “goes to where the Australia science is…” Kwajalein

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 10 Types of Missions

• Geospace (Plasma Physics) • Solar Telescopes • Astronomy Telescopes • High Speed Aerodynamics and Propulsion • Entry and Descent • Technology Development • Educational

• Approx. 50 payloads/missions active at any given time • Approx. 18 flights/year

NASA Sounding Rockets Program 11 Solar wind compresses the Earth’s magnetic field. Solar storms can compress the magnetic field even further. The increased pressure increases the amount of plasma that passes through the magnetosphere The interaction of the solar plasma with the Earth’s magnetic field creates the Aurora Borealis Trimethylaluminum (blue & white) and Lithium (red) releases over the Kwajalien Atoll (May 2013) Astrophysics Research

Solar Research

• Hubble can’t look at the Sun

• Sounding rocket missions are used to determine calibration factors for orbiting satellites like the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Technology Development