Four sounding rockets, all part of the JOULE II mission, were launched on January 19, 2007. The NASA sounding rockets, two Terrier Orions, a Black Brant V and a Terrier Black Brant, were launched in pairs. The first pair was launched one minute apart, followed 15 minutes later by the second pair, also launched one minute apart.
Each series consisted
of one rocket with instruments
to read the detailed structure of the electrical
currents within the aurora, while a second rocket
released a visible tracer of trimethyl aluminum
vapor to measure the winds and turbulence 60 to
120 miles above Earth.
Link to news article about the Joule II launches in SitNews, Ketchikan,
Alaska, January 19, 2007.
JOULE II will conduct a detailed investigation of the various contributions
to the local E-region heating during a substorm event in the post-midnight
sector of the auroral oval at Poker Flat, Alaska, where the Joule heating
is expected to be strongest over a broad range of scales.
Four rockets will be launched to conduct this mission. Two instrumented
rockets will be launched along the magnetic meridian toward north approximately
15 minutes apart to measure the small scale electric field and electron
density fluctuations. A chemical tracer rocket will be launched in a
salvo with each of the instrumented rockets along the same azimuths to
map out the north/south gradients in the neutral winds and their effect
on the local heating rates as a function of altitude and horizontal distance.
21.138
Boom deployment video
(Windows media file .wmv 0.8 MB)
36.234
Boom deployment video
(Windows media fiel .wmv 0.4 MB)
Image on left: 41.065 Terrier Orion payload on the Mass Properties table for pitch moment measurement. Click image to enlarge.
Image on left: 36.234 Black Brant IX forward experiment section. Click image to enlarge.
Image above on left: 21.138 Black Brant VB payload on Mass Properties table for roll moment inertia measurement. Image above on right: 41.064 Terrier Orion payload on vibration table. Click images to enlarge.
Link to Joule II information at University of Calgary.