Roadmapwkshp Lessard
Roadmapwkshp Lessard
Roadmapwkshp Lessard
Types of missions
The objectives of any particular mission are driven by science. At the same time, the flexibility provided by a rocket is wellsuited to unique tasks. For example:
The Enstrophy mission, designed jointly by the University of New Hampshire and JPL, was both an auroral science mission and a feasibility test for ultra-low-resource sensorcraft. Each of 4 hockeypuck sized free-flyers carried a power and telemetry system, a magnetometer and sun sensors.These tiny spacecraft provided the opportunity to design within very low resource boundaries and to test the outcome in a realistic environment, while also providing new observations of spatial and temporal structure of auroral currents. In conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Astro-2 rocket, GSFC developed a SiC coating procedure for large mirrors. This technique was then applied to the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, increasing the sensitivity by a factor of 3. The same technique was also used on the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), and enabled the mission to remain successful in spite of a descope of the project from $300M to $100M.
Combining research in ionospheric physics, aeronomy and astronomy with technology development
New missions consistently point to the need for increasing complexity, which typically implies multiple (i.e., smaller) and more efficient payloads, precision formations, etc. The need for multi-point measurements is clear. Many of the same techniques that require development for advanced satellite missions can also be used to provide useful data on sounding rockets. Certainly, multiple payloads (with the associated requirements of payload stability, positioning, attitude knowledge and control, stability, etc.,) are often used with sounding rocket missions. These same missions have also provided a steady stream of excellent science.
Note that with regard to precision formation flying, sounding rocket platforms include the possibility of acquiring GPS measurements of the locations of the various spacecraft with high precision, providing an easy means of evaluating the results of the test.