Wallops Flight Facility student launch scheduled for Friday morning

Image: NASA

A NASA sounding rocket is scheduled to launch Friday morning, between 5:30 and 8:30 from The Wallops Flight facility.

The launch was initially scheduled for today, but technical issues and weather forced a delay.

The 36-foot long Terrier-Improved Orion suborbital sounding rocket is set to launch student projects from students across the country, including the University of Delaware. Those projects include the effects of high radiation exposure levels on high frequency components, while simultaneously developing an open-source project platform for future use within the RockSat community. They also plan to collect miscellaneous flight data and test the physical durability of a gallium nitride transistor. The third experiment is to accurately measure the temperature and density of electrons as a function of changing altitude.

Weather permitting and if you’re up early, people on the Delmarva Peninsula should be able to see the launch. The Wallops Visitor Center and viewing area will not be open for this launch.

 

PROJECTS:

Cubes in Space

Cubes in Space is an educational program for students ages 11-18 to design experiments in a 40 mm cube and launch on a sounding rocket. The program builds awareness in the pre-college age group about easily accessible, short-duration, and relatively low-cost spaceflight missions and opportunities in support of scientific exploration objectives.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

The Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Geneva, New York) team will record spectra in different wavelength regions (visible light, UV, and thermal radiation) of the spectrum and measure highly charged particles called muon flux at various altitudes within the atmosphere.

Old Dominion University

The Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia) team will explore the practicality and accuracy of additive manufacturing while experiencing aggressive changes in gravitational forces explored in a sounding rocket platform.

Temple University

The Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) team will implement a single-bubble sonoluminescence (producing light from sound) experiment aboard payload to compare the change in illumination with respect to the change in gravity over time.

University of Delaware

The University of Delaware (Newark) team will conduct several experiments. The first is to quantify the effects that high radiation exposure levels have on high frequency components, while simultaneously developing an open-source project platform for future use within the RockSat community. They also plan to collect miscellaneous flight data and test the physical durability of a gallium nitride transistor. The third experiment is to accurately measure the temperature and density of electrons as a function of changing altitude in the D and E layers of the ionosphere.

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond) team will conduct a geophysical experiment to study the ionosphere and a mechanical experiment to study re-entry dynamics of the rocket.

West Virginia Collaboration

The West Virginia Collaboration (comprised of students from West Virginia University, Morgantown; Blue Ridge Community and Technical College, Martinsburg; West Virginia State University, Institute; and West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon) will characterize flight dynamics and observe solar activity in the infra-red, visible, and ultra-violet light, muon detection, and create and design an autonomous navigation assistant.

University of Puerto Rico

The University of Puerto Rico (San Juan) team will test the Oxford Nanopore VolTRAX Sample Preparator to set new precedents for in-flight DNA and RNA sampling processes. Internal and external sensors will provide context of flight conditions and profile to better understand the device’s limits.

 

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