Rocket Range Research Articles

Reindeer, rockets and space infrastructures: Enacting oligoptic-satellitarian environments in Northern Sweden

This article focuses on a series of connections between space infrastructures and environments in northern Sweden. Swedish space professionals often highlight the centrality of outer space for contemporary imaginaries about the planet as an interconnected whole. At the same time, the country's sounding rocket range outside the city of Kiruna relies on deep-seated constructions of the subarctic environment as empty wilderness. With the ongoing development of small satellite launch capability, the surrounding landscape needs to be sustained as an impact area, with the consequence that Sámi land practices are increasingly pushed to the sidelines. By turning to reindeer herders’ own uses of satellite technology, I delineate an oligoptic-satellitarian environment that runs athwart panopticonic understandings of satellite vision. Rather than trying to see everything from nowhere, the herders bring into view a limited set of more-than-human relations in order to challenge conceptions of the landscape as empty and exploitable. While showing that space activities in Sweden fold into and reproduce colonial histories, the article also argues that space infrastructures contain the potential for their own reconfiguration by eliciting the other worlds that are already being performed from within dominant socio-technical regimes.

THE EFFECT OF THRUST FOR THE FFAR 70 MM ROCKET ON FLYING TRACT PERFORMANCE

This research aims to analyze the influence of thrust on elevation angle, range, and altitude of the FFAR 70 MM rocket using three software: Working Model 2D, MATLAB Simulink, and analytical formula. The modeling is conducted by varying the thrust (2265 N, 3265 N, and 4265 N) and elevation angle (30° to 70°). The simulation results reveal significant differences among the three software.The results from Working Model 2D indicate that the optimal thrust is 4265 N with an optimal elevation angle of 30°. On the other hand, MATLAB Simulink shows that the optimal thrust and elevation angle are 4265 N and 50°. Furthermore, the simulation results demonstrate that as the thrust increases, the rocket's range becomes farther and its altitude becomes higher. A comparison between the simulation and experimental data shows that MATLAB Simulink's results approximate the experimental data with a range of approximately 7.869 km.

Study on Extending Range of Artillery Rocket Using Control Surfaces

Extension of range of artillery rocket using gliding technique is very effective way. Extension in the range is achieved by control surfaces without adding any extra charge. Controls are applied after completion of launch phase and trajectory is controlled by canards or flat tail control fins. Contribution in this work is to find the optimum time to initiate the controls during the flight so as to get maximum range. Analysis has been carried out using six degree of freedom equations of motion.

Research on fairings with different aspect ratio under subsonic flow Based On FLUENT

When rocket flying at high speed, large air resistance will generate at the front and around the rocket fairing. Results in significant reduction of the rocket's range and speed. The research shows that the air resistance produced by the fairing accounts for more than half of the total resistance of the rocket. As the shape of fairing is axisymmetric, a 2D model with triangle mesh was used for simulation to analyze the pressure around fairing. Eight group of fairing with aspect ratio from 0.25 to 2 were studied under the compressible non viscous airflow with 200 m/s incoming speed. The air resistance decreases with the increase of the aspect ratio, and the high pressure area around the fairing also reduces from more than a half to one third of the total fairing length. In these eight groups of fairings, the fairing with aspect ratio 2 performs best, receives the minimum air resistance and with pressure mainly distributed at the front end of the fairing.

Woomera’s Women: camera operators on the Anglo-Australian rocket range 1947–1970, a case study of Laurine (Hall) East

ABSTRACT After WW2, with the onset of the Cold War, by virtue of an Anglo-Australian Joint Venture, Australia became a centre for scientific research into rockets and long-range weapons (including Britain’s atomic warheads) testing. By the mid 1950s a new outback town - Woomera had been created in the Australian Desert to conduct the tests. Each test generated 1,000s of images and 50,000 pictures could be generated per trial. Women’s roles at Woomera were initially expected to be traditional – supportive wives and mothers. This research based on archival records, documentary film and oral histories with those who worked on the range during 1947-1970, reveals women undertaking roles operating the kinetheodolites that filmed and tracked the rocket firings and female “computers,” who assisted in the production processes. These women recorded and analysed the data from filming and can be considered Australia’s “hidden figures”. Previous Woomera histories exclude any detailed mention of this industrial phenomenon – women as camera operators and data analysts/computers. This article examines the work of one of these women as revealed through film, archival records and oral history drawn from a broader study that examined the work of 12 former camera operators and four “computers” on the Woomera rocket range.

CONTOUR DESIGN FOR SOLID-PROPELLANT ROCKET-ENGINE NOZZLE

In this paper, the characteristic line method is used to establish the equation describing the nozzle diverging contour. The converging contour of the nozzle is built according to the Witoszynski formula. Numerical calculation is applied to the 9M22Y uncontrolled rocket. The new nozzle design length reduced by 27.50%; the maximum thrust increased by 1.96% compared to the initial nozzle. The results in this paper are given parameters of the new nozzle having more optimal than the original nozzle. This result can be used to increase the range of 9M22Y rocket in particular and other missiles in general.

The history of Andøya Rocket Range

Abstract. Just 5 years after Sputnik, on 18 August 1962, Norway launched the first sounding rocket from Andøya in northern Norway. The establishment of Andøya Rocket Range (ARR), in the Arctic and right in the middle of the night-time auroral zone, gave the scientists unique opportunities for studies of the complex processes in the auroral ionosphere and upper atmosphere. In close cooperation with the users, ARR gradually developed its technical and scientific infrastructure and is now one of the world's leading observatories in this field. ARR has also established a launch site at Svalbard, and sounding rockets from both ranges can reach far into the Arctic to study the cusp region and the daytime aurora. The ground-based instruments comprise sophisticated radars and lidars as well as passive instruments. ARR also plays an active role in space education. In 2014 Andøya Rocket Range changed its name to Andøya Space Center (ASC; https://www.andoyaspace.no, last access: 23 November 2018). This change reflects the fact that the activities now comprise much more than sounding rocket launches. ASC is an important company both nationally and in the local community of Andenes. ASC now has a staff of 95 and an annual turnover of NOK 150 million.

Hybrid Experimental Rocket Stuttgart: A Low-Cost Technology Demonstrator

On 8 November 2016 at 1030 hrs, the Hybrid Experimental Rocket Stuttgart (HEROS) 3 was launched from the European Space and Sounding Rocket Range (ESRANGE) Space Center to an apogee altitude of 32,300 m (106,000 ft). This set a new altitude record for European student and amateur rocketry and a world altitude record for hybrid rockets built by students. The 7.5-m-long rocket was using nitrous oxide () and a paraffin-based fuel to produce 10,000 N of thrust. The dry mass of the rocket was only 75 kg thanks to a carbon fiber structure for the most part. The rocket performed the record-breaking flight at perfect weather and visibility conditions, reaching a maximum airspeed of and Mach 2.3. The rocket performed a soft landing with two parachutes and can be reused. Flight data and engine performance data are published and analyzed. The flight data show excellent stability of the rocket. Engine performance data prove very high efficiency and stable combustion. The subsystem design and verification before the launch is reported. Engine and flight trajectory simulations show very good agreement with the flight data. Furthermore, the overall project, rocket design, and subsystems, as well as the launch campaign, are presented here in detail.

Aerothermal Postflight Analysis of the Sharp Edge Flight Experiment-II

The aerothermal instrumentation of the Sharp Edge Hypersonic Flight Experiment SHEFEX-II, which was launched from Andøya Rocket Range on top of a two-stage rocket configuration, provided very useful flight data. Complementary to the pressure data, heat flux rate and surface temperature were measured at selected locations on the payload along the complete ascent and descent trajectory. Measured heat flux rate and pressure fluctuations show excellent correlation with angle-of-attack variations. Calculated heat flux evolution using a hypersonic boundary-layer code along the trajectory is in reasonable agreement with measured heat flux data during flight. Boundary-layer transition was measured at a boundary-layer edge Reynolds number of approximately for both ascent and descent phases. The complementary analytical and numerical study for the flight rebuilding at selected flight points provided very useful data and allowed better understanding of the physical phenomena. Finally, a combined analytical–numerical approach was validated and applied for the computation of the heat flux rate along the flight trajectory. This verified method can be used for the design and analysis of future hypersonic flights of slender vehicles.

Acute stress disorder among civilians during a war and post-traumatic growth six years later: the impact of personal and social resources

Background and Objectives: Various studies suggest a link between stress response to a traumatic event and post-traumatic growth (PTG), but little is known about their long-term relationship. In this study, the relationship between acute stress disorder (ASD) among civilians during a war on the home front and PTG six years later was examined for the first time. Based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, the role of personal and social resource loss and gain as moderating factors was investigated. Design and Methods: At Time 1 of the research (the Second Lebanon War in 2006), a structured questionnaire was administered to 370 civilians living within rocket range. At Time 2, 6 years later, 301 participants from Time 1 were again examined. The data analysis refers to the 301 respondents who participated at Time 2. Results: The findings indicate a significant relationship between ASD and PTG. Examination of the interaction revealed that resource gain (but not resource loss) moderates (strengthens) the relationship between the two. Conclusions: These findings are not consistent with the COR view that resource loss has a greater effect on stress responses than resource gain.

Three-Dimensional Ballistic Equations of Rocket Considering the Elastic Effects

Because the shell of modern rocket is more and more thin and the body length to diameter ratio increase constantly, influence to trajectory caused by elasticity effect cannot be ignored any more. Based on the model of Euler-Bernoulli beam, the dynamic equations of flexible rocket are derived by using of Hamilton principle. The influence of distributing mass and aerodynamic force and the coupling between longitudinal and transversal vibration are considered. Example shows ballistic range and altitude of rocket are influenced by elastic effects observably.

A combined rocket-borne and ground-based study of the sodium layer and charged dust in the upper mesosphere

The Hotel Payload 2 rocket was launched on January 31st 2008 at 20.14 LT from the Andøya Rocket Range in northern Norway (69.31° N, 16.01° E). Measurements in the 75–105km region of atomic O, negatively-charged dust, positive ions and electrons with a suite of instruments on the payload were complemented by lidar measurements of atomic Na and temperature from the nearby ALOMAR observatory. The payload passed within 2.58km of the lidar at an altitude of 90km. A series of coupled models is used to explore the observations, leading to two significant conclusions. First, the atomic Na layer and the vertical profiles of negatively-charged dust (assumed to be meteoric smoke particles), electrons and positive ions, can be modelled using a self-consistent meteoric input flux. Second, electronic structure calculations and Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Markus theory are used to show that even small Fe–Mg–silicates are able to attach electrons rapidly and form stable negatively-charged particles, compared with electron attachment to O2 and O3. This explains the substantial electron depletion between 80 and 90km, where the presence of atomic O at concentrations in excess of 1010cm−3 prevents the formation of stable negative ions.

Climatic Variation at Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, India

Long-term (45 years) diversified surface meteorological records from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), India, were collected and analysed to study the long-term changes in the overall climatology, climatology pertained to a particular observational time, mean daily climatology in temperature, inter-annual variability in temperature, interannual variability in surface pressure, and rainfall for the main Indian seasons—South West and North East monsoons and inter-annual mean monthly anomaly structure in temperature. Results on various analyses show strong and vivid features contributed by climate change for this South Peninsular Indian Arabian Sea Coastal Station, and this paper may be a first time venture which discusses climate change imparted perturbations in several meteorological parameters in different time domains, like a specific time, daily, monthly, and interannually over a station. Being a coastal rocket launching station, climatic change information is crucial for long-term planning of its facilities as well as for various rocket range operational demands.

Blant ordentlige fysikere – Hvilken betydning har en fysikkcamp i et autentisk forskningsmiljø for fysikkelever i videregående skole?<br />Among real physicists – What importance may a camp in an authentic research environment have for physics students...

This paper reports from a qualitative study of physics students in upper secondary school participating in a camp at the Andøya Rocket Range in Northern Norway. The students work together with students from other schools, engineers and physicists for three days, following lectures and practical work related to the physics curriculum. The students report exciting, social and creative experiences through solving practical problems. Interest, competence, performance and recognition are identified as important factors for students physics identity (Hazari, Sonnert, Sadler, & Shanahan, 2010). This paper discusses how this kind of experience may contribute to the development of more physics-related identities among students in upper secondary school, and how this in turn may influence the students’ further career choices.

Preface ''Structure, composition, and dynamics of the middle atmosphere and lower ionosphere during a major meteor shower''

With this special issue we document our current understanding of the impact of a major meteor shower on the structure, composition and dynamics of the middle atmosphere and lower ionosphere. The results centre on, but are not limited to, a recent international campaign with sounding rockets, ground-based and satellite observations: the ECOMA 2010 Geminids campaign. This campaign was conducted in December 2010 from Andoya Rocket Range (69� N, 16� E). Three instrumented payloads were launched to investigate the evolution of meteoric smoke particles’ distribution, properties and abundance as well as their effects on the middle atmosphere: one shortly before the onset of the shower, one at the peak of shower activity on 13 December, and one after shower activity had ceased. All scientific payloads included instruments to probe the neutral atmosphere (density, temperature, turbulence, trace species like meteor smoke, NO, O) and the lower ionosphere (electrons, positive ions, charged aerosols).

Energetic Electrons Precipitating at High Latitudes: PEEL Data from HotPay-2 Mission

The instrument PEEL recorded low flux of precipitating energetic electrons during the flight of the HotPay-2 sounding rocket launched from Andoya Rocket Range (Lat. 69°.18'N, Long. 16°.01'E) on 31-JAN-2008 at 19:14:00 UT. After the brief description of the instrument, its possibilities and limitations to measure energetic electron flux in the upper atmosphere, the profile of counting rate obtained by the three detectors in four energy channels is presented. The epoch of solar activity minima and relatively low geomagnetic activity preceding the HotPay-2 mission, the detectors with given geometrical factor provided relatively low counting rate. Energetic particle precipitation contributes significantly to the energy deposition in the ionosphere and thus its measurements on rockets are important for the updating of models used in space weather forecasts. Such measurement device, can serve for space weather monitoring of energetic electrons present in the upper atmosphere. This type of in situ measurements can contribute to the completeness of the picture of electron flux (its high energy part) distribution and of its variability in the vicinity of Earth.

Sharp Edge Flight Experiment-II Instrumentation Challenges and Selected Flight Data

The Sharp Edge Flight Experiment II was launched from the Andoya rocket range in Norway on 22 June 2012, consisting of an extensively instrumented scientific payload on top of a two stage rocket configuration. With an apogee of about 177 km, the vehicle achieved flight velocities up to corresponding to Mach numbers up to 9.3. More than 96% of the pressure sensors provided excellent data during the ascent and descent phases. Measured pressure data from sensors at different locations of the scientific payload show consistent results concerning the aerodynamic behavior of the vehicle along the complete trajectory. Pressure fluctuations measured during flight show an excellent correlation to angle-of-attack variations. Calculated pressure coefficients from a computational fluid dynamics analysis at selected trajectory points are in good agreement with the measured pressure data.

Detection of meteoric smoke particles in the mesosphere by a rocket-borne mass spectrometer

In October 2011, two CHAMPS (Charge And Mass of meteoric smoke ParticleS) sounding rockets were launched into the polar mesosphere, each carrying an electrostatic multichannel mass analyzer for charged meteoric smoke particles (MSPs) that operated from 60 to 100km and returned data on the number density of the charged MSPs in several ranges of mass. The payloads also carried Faraday rotation antennas and an array of plasma probes for determining electron and ion densities and the payload charging potential, thus providing a comprehensive picture of the distribution of charges over a wide range of altitudes that can be compared with models for the vertical distribution of MSPs and for the distribution of charge. The launches were from the Andøya Rocket Range, Norway, following the end of the noctilucent cloud season to avoid detection of ice. A night launch (11 October 21:50 UT) and a day launch (13 October 13:50 UT) helped to elucidate the role of solar ultraviolet in determining the charge state of the particles. The night data show a distinct change in the charge state of MSPs at the D-region ledge (~78km) below which the density of free electrons is greatly reduced. Above the ledge, negative MSPs are detected at up to 92km, have number densities reaching ~200cm−3, and positive MSPs are absent. Below the ledge, positive and negative MSPs are about equally abundant, each with densities of ~2000cm−3 at 70km and with slightly lower densities at 60km. The MSPs are seen predominantly in mass bins spanning 500–2000amu and 2000–8000amu, with more massive particles (radii above ~1.2nm assuming a smoke particle density of 2g/cm3) having number densities below the detection threshold (10cm−3) and less massive particles being indistinguishable from ions. The daytime launch data show positive MSPs present only below the ledge and their number density is reduced to below 300cm−3. The daytime data show negative MSPs both above and below the D-region ledge and their number density is also reduced, perhaps as a consequence of photodetachment. Modeling of the charge state of the MSPs shows that the total number density of MSPs, charged and uncharged, is approximately 20,000cm−3 below the ledge and the model reproduces the absence of positive MSPs above the ledge.

Simultaneous observations of a Mesospheric Inversion Layer and turbulence during the ECOMA-2010 rocket campaign

Abstract. From 19 November to 19 December 2010 the fourth and final ECOMA rocket campaign was conducted at Andøya Rocket Range (69° N, 16° E) in northern Norway. We present and discuss measurement results obtained during the last rocket launch labelled ECOMA09 when simultaneous and true common volume in situ measurements of temperature and turbulence supported by ground-based lidar observations reveal two Mesospheric Inversion Layers (MIL) at heights between 71 and 73 km and between 86 and 89 km. Strong turbulence was measured in the region of the upper inversion layer, with the turbulent energy dissipation rates maximising at 2 W kg−1. This upper MIL was observed by the ALOMAR Weber Na lidar over the period of several hours. The spatial extension of this MIL as observed by the MLS instrument onboard AURA satellite was found to be more than two thousand kilometres. Our analysis suggests that both observed MILs could possibly have been produced by neutral air turbulence.

Trajectory Modeling of GRAD Rocket with Low-Cost Terminal Guidance Upgrade Coupled to Range Increase Through Step-Like Thrust-Curves

The paper shows a full 6 DOF modeling for a GRAD rocket in Earth’s non-inertial frame. For numerical purposes the modeling is limited to flat Earth approximation. The full motion equations are shown and all terms are explained together with the aerodynamics parameters for the entire flight envelope. Non-linear interpolation is used for a erodynamic coefficients and their derivatives. We present the typical dispersion factors due to rocket production inaccuracies, launch condition variability and atmospheric factors and their relative influence on a guidance implementation package. Next we present a 6 DOF modeling with various step-like thrust-curves while maintain the same total impulse delivered by the original motor. The influence of the step size on the range of the GRAD rocket is investigated together with the dispersion influence. We show that significant range increase can be obtained while using the same propulsion unit with a steplike thrust-curve modification. We also investigate the influence of the step-like thrust-curve on dispersion of such a rocket and the technological possibilities to implement our solution.In the last part of the paper we present a terminal guidance concept 122 mm rockets. A preliminary requirement for IMU units to be used for terminal guidance is shown together with the general guidance algorithm for several trajectories. Performance expectations are shown through the analysis of the IMU units performance as well as flight dynamics of the122 mm rockets.