Aug 1 1980
From The Space Library
WFC reported the successful launch July 31 or a two-stage sounding rocket to test both the vehicle system and a "mother-daughter" two-part payload, an electrodynamics package to be used in a series of three launches from Norway later in 1980. Launched at 8:18 a.m. on an Honest John-Orion rocket, the 216-kilogram (476-pound) instrumented payload was programmed to separate at about 95 kilometers (59 miles) altitude and measure the electric field and profiles of ion density and conductivity in the atmosphere. (The three experiments to be launched in Norway would measure energetic-particle and X-ray fluxes and ultraviolet light from the aurora in addition to the electric field and ion density and conductivity.)
Telemetry showed that the payloads separated as planned and both the sections reached peak altitude of 111 kilometers (69 miles). The "daughter" payload, a sphere with six 1-meter booms extending from it, performed well and exhibited good stability until descent. At 73 kilometers (45 miles) on the way down, a 65-foot-diameter mylar parachute deployed from the "mother" section; this was a lower altitude that planned, resulting in a faster fall than planned, but the section's stability allowed it to acquire usable data. This section also contained a movie camera to film parachute deployment; recovery of the section from the Atlantic was in progress. (WFC Release 80-9)
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