White Sands Missile Range will launch three Black Brant IX sounding rockets as part of a NASA mission to capture scientific data during a solar eclipse taking place Oct. 14.

NASA to launch research rockets from WSMR during solar eclipse

White Sands Missile Range will launch three Black Brant IX sounding rockets as part of a NASA mission to capture scientific data during a solar eclipse taking place Oct. 14.

The Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path mission includes three identical rockets launching from WSMR. The mission is named after the cosmic world serpent from ancient Egyptian cosmology. The serpent pursues the sun god Ra- and every so often, nearly consumes the sun disc, resulting in an eclipse.

The APEP rockets aim to collect data to answer the following science questions: Does the eclipse shadow directly seed discernible irregularities in the mid latitude ionosphere? What are the associated vertical length and time scales of these irregularities? What are the impacts of the Temperature Gradient Instability and Gradient Drift Instability in seeding small scale (10s to 100s of meters) ionospheric irregularities in the presence of solar eclipse? How do the various regions of the ionosphere behave differently at small scales in response to the overall cooling effect of the thermosphere?

Three identical payloads will be launched during the Annular Eclipse occurring Oct. 14. The first payload will launch 40-minutes before peak eclipse, the second at peak, and the third 40-minutes past peak. This will be the first time for simultaneous multipoint spatio-temporal in-situ observations of electrodynamics and neutral dynamics associated with solar eclipses.

The main payload instrumentation includes Langmuir probes, electric field probes, magnetometers, ionization gauges, and accelerometers. The simultaneous multipoint measurements are facilitated by four SWARM deployables ejected from each payload that are instrumented with Langmuir probe, magnetometer and accelerometer. Co-Investigator institutions include Air Force Research Labs, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Colorado-Boulder

A roadblock will be in place on Highway 70 from 9:35 a.m. to 11:15 a.m.

For more information on the solar eclipse go to the following website:

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2023/where-when/

Members of TEAM WSMR are invited to the White Sands Missile Range Museum and Missile Park to view the rocket launches starting at 8 a.m.

The launches can be observed from seating available at the Missile Park, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own foldable seating.

By Miriam Rodriguez

WSMR Public Affairs