[61] In the January 1966 issue of Astronautics and Aeronautics, Colin O. Hines presented an article entitled "Sounding Rocket Resurgence." From this article came the title of this chapter. Eleanor C. Pressly, of Goddard's Sounding Rocket Branch, feels that the word "resurgence" is perhaps not indicative of exactly what happened in the middle 1960s.⁷⁸ Most experimenters, she stated, never "left" sounding rockets. Indeed, a study of the number of NASA sounding rockets launched each year (Appendix C) shows a steady increase to about 160 firings per annum, with no significant decreases in recent years despite reductions in the overall NASA budget. The word "resurgence," then, really applies to the reawakening of the scientific community to the value of sounding rockets as research vehicles. The stock of sounding rockets began to rise noticeably in 1965.

Even more indicative of the enhancement of scientists' regard for sounding rockets may be found in the 1969 recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences on the subject of sounding rockets in space research.⁷⁹ Specifically, the Committee on Rocket Research of the Space Science Board suggested that NASA increase its annual expenditures to $27 million by 1971 (an increase of 36 percent over fiscal year 1969) with an annual increase of 12 percent thereafter.

Some of the reasons for this enhancement of the sounding rocket mystique have already been mentioned: the fact that only sounding rockets can make direct measurements between 32 and 160 km (20 and 100 mi), their convenience and lack of formality, the short experiment lead times, the low cost, and the greater design freedom. Some additional and more subtle reasons are noteworthy. First, much space research is carried out with the [62] help of graduate students in the universities. These students cannot afford to wait around two to five years while a satellite is built, the experiment integrated, and the vehicle launched. The sounding rocket cycle-six months to a year-is much better attuned to graduate research. A second factor concerns the so-called bits-per-buck philosophy, which proponents of scientific satellites often raise when comparing satellites to sounding rockets. It is true that a single satellite of the Observatory class can telemeter back a greater volume of data than all of the sounding rockets NASA launches in a single year. Much of these data are uninteresting, however, and go unanalyzed. When something "interesting" happens in space research, say, the eruption of a solar big flare or the detonation of a high-altitude nuclear weapon, a satellite with the proper instruments may not be in orbit or it may be in the wrong place. Sounding rockets, in contrast, can be launched quickly from almost any spot on Earth. In short, sounding rockets have much greater versatility as to what they measure, when they measure it, and where.

Appendix E portrays the trends in rocket research by scientific discipline. Manifestly, aeronomy, meteorology, and ionospheric physics depend heavily upon rockets because satellites and balloons cannot compete as instrument carriers between 32 and 161 km (20 and 100 ml). The resurgence of sounding rockets is most marked in the discipline of energetic particles. The years 1961, 1962, and 1963 saw an average of only one payload per year; but in 1964, 16 energetic particle payloads were launched by rocket. This increased rate has been maintained since then. The best explanations for the three-year decline and subsequent resurgence must be those we have listed and, in addition, a focusing of attention on the low-altitude auroral zones.

Another discipline that has waxed strong recently with sounding rocket vehicles is galactic astronomy. Some of this heavy use of sounding rockets is attributable to the long delays in launching a successful Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO), but undoubtedly some astronomers are attracted by the simplicity and short cycle time of rockets over the OAO-class spacecraft.

In the context of payload simplicity, there was initially a trend in the early part of the 1965-1968 period toward multidisciplinary sounding rockets- a movement that paralleled the trend away from simple Explorer satellites to multidisciplinary observatories. Some of the bigger rockets, such as the Aerobee 350, had ample room for several experiments. But this trend was actually a regression, in a sense, back to the multidisciplinary V-2s with all the attendant problems of matching interfaces between experiments.

In the preceding chapter, the Aerobee 350 and its development were described. As indicated in Appendix C, this rocket was first tested in 1965 [63] and 1966. The Aerobee 350, however, was not used operationally until the end of 1969.

During 1965 Goddard began using the Arcas sounding rocket, a vehicle first used back in 1958 by the Navy and in 1959 by Langley Research Center and Wallops. The Arcas was an inexpensive rocket, costing only about $2000 per round. Perhaps 2000 were fired each year, mainly for meteorological purposes. It was also a good rocket for launching small payloads to moderate altitudes- 5.4 kg (12 lb) to 64 km (40 mi), nominal performance, and employed no special launch equipment. It was therefore eminently suited for NASA's international programs. The Arcas was put into service in Norway, New Zealand, and other countries during the 1965-1968 period. The rockets were purchased directly from the Atlantic Research Corp.

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The Nike-Tomahawk also saw considerable operational use by NASA beginning in 1965. Originally developed by the Thiokol Chemical Corp. for Sandia Corp., the acting agent for the AEC, the Nike-Tomahawk carried a larger payload to higher altitudes than the Nike-Apache.

The most interesting addition to the NASA "stable" during the 1965- 1968 period was the Black Brant IV, a rocket built by Bristol Aerospace, Ltd., in Winnipeg. There was some controversy within Goddard regarding the desirability of purchasing a rocket from a foreign country [65] when many American manufacturers build a large variety of sounding rockets. According to Karl Medrow, Chief of Goddard's Sounding Rocket Branch,⁸⁰ the Black Brant had three positive features that led to its selection:

1. The Black Brants were operational with performance that no American manufacturer could match with off-the-shelf vehicles. (Note: NASA paid only for a propellant change in the Black Brant to improve performance. The U.S. Air Force also contributed financially to the development of the Black Brant series.)

2. The Black Brant used no military hardware and could thus be fired from foreign countries.

3. The Black Brant represented the cheapest way to get the job done.

By the end of 1968, NASA had fired two Black Brant IVs: one with a Canadian payload from Wallops Island on May 7, 1968, and a second from Brazil with a radiation payload provided by the Manned Spacecraft Center, on June 11,1968.

Appendixes C and E summarize the launch activities of the Goddard Sounding Rocket Branch by rocket vehicle and discipline during the 1965- 1968 period. NASA sounding rocket funding is recapitulated in Appendix F. The trends in these areas were covered earlier in this chapter. At this point, some of the more important domestic and international programs are related.

Almost 700 sounding rockets were managed by Goddard Space Flight Center in the four-year period 1965-1968. (See Appendix B for listing.) Most were launched from Wallops Island, Fort Churchill, and White Sands. The instrumentation reflected the emphasis on aeronomy, meteorology, and ionospheric physics portrayed in Appendix E - that is, pitot tubes, grenade experiments, ion probes, etc. While these programs formed the basic fabric of the sounding rocket program, there was also a long series of firings from the U.S.N.S. Croatan during 1965, three major eclipse expeditions,⁸¹ and a continuation of the highly successful international program.

The 1965 shipboard firings were part of NASA's contribution to the International Year of the Quiet Sun (IQSY). A total of 77 Nike-Cajuns, Nike-Apaches, and small Arcas meteorological rockets were launched from Wallops' mobile range facility on the U.S.N.S. Croatan, while it steamed along the west coast of South America between March 8 and April 22, 1965.⁸² The experiments were aimed at determining the states of the upper [66] atmosphere and ionosphere during solar sunspot minimum, particularly the so-called "equatorial electrojet." The instrumentation was provided by the Universities of Michigan and New Hampshire, Goddard Space Flight Center, and others.

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[67] A much shorter series of launches continued Project Luster, an effort by NASA's Ames Research Center to collect samples of dust and micrometeoroids in the upper atmosphere. The first Luster payload was launched from White Sands on November 16, 1964, on an Aerobee 150 with the intent of collecting meteoric debris during the Leonid meteor showers. Further flights occurred on November 16, 1965 (an Aerobee 150), November 18, 1965 (a Nike-Apache), and October 22, 1966 (an Aerobee 150)- all from White Sands. The samples collected from altitudes of 160 km (100 mi) were distributed in the United States and Europe.⁸³ During Project Luster, the Goddard Sounding Rocket Branch provided rockets and launch services, while Ames Research Center was responsible for the payloads. This is the typical relationship between the Sounding Rocket Branch and any experimenter, whether from Government, university, industry, or a foreign country.

Ames Research Center has also been involved in the development of attitude-control equipment for sounding rockets, notably SPARCS, as mentioned in Chapter VIl. The first flight test of SPARCS took place on December 10, 1967, when an Aerobee 150 was fired from White Sands. The test was partially successful.

Cooperative sounding rocket programs with foreign countries expanded considerably during the 1965-1968 period. Close to half of NASA's sounding rocket launches occurred on foreign soil- particularly at polar and equatorial sites essential to studies of auroral and equatorial electrojet phenomena. Several new countries-Brazil, Greece, Israel, the Netherlands, and Spain- concluded agreements with the United States, and ongoing programs with other countries increased in size. Because of the importance of these international flights to NASA's mission, they are all listed in Table 6. ⁸⁴

The remainder of the chapter summarizes rocket research results, 1965-1968, in various disciplines.⁸⁵

Atmospheric physics and meteorological research. Using a new ionized barium technique, electric fields were measured for the first time in the upper atmosphere. They seemed to be about 100 times stronger than at lower altitudes. The vertical profile of neutral helium was measured up to 1000 km (620 mi).

[68] Table 6. Cooperative International Programs, 1965-1968.

Country	Location	Date(s)	Details
.
Argentina	Tartagal	Nov. 1966	Argentine scientists studied upper atmosphere during eclipse of Nov. 12, 1966, with 12 Arcas rockets.
	Wallops I.	Nov. 1966	3 tests of the Argentine-built Orion rockets.
	Chamical	Sept. 1967	National University of Tucuman studied ionosphere with 2 Nike-Apaches.
	Chamical	Apr. 1966-Apr. 1968	As part of the Experimental Inter-American Meteorological Rocket Network (EXAMETNET), Argentina launched 38 Arcas rockets and boosted Darts.
	Mar Chiquita	May 1968-Dec. 1968	EXAMETNET operations moved; 19 more Arcas rockets and boosted Darts fired.
Brazil	Wallops I.	Aug. 1965	Brazilian and Goddard scientists launched a Nike-Apache to study effect of cosmic rays on ionosphere
	Natala	Dec. 1965	As above; 2 Nike-Apaches.
	Natal	Jan. 1966-Dec. 1968	EXAMETNET operations (see Argentina), included the launching of 52 Arcas rockets and boosted Darts.
	Natal	May 1966-Mar. 1968	Brazilian and Goddard scientists employed grenades to study upper atmosphere; 25 Nike-Cajuns used.
	Cassino	Nov. 1966	17 sounding rockets of various types launched by U.S. and Brazilian experimenters during the total solar eclipse on Nov. 12, 1966.
	Natal	Dec. 1966	Using an Aerobee 150, Catholic University experimenters identified new X-ray sources in the southern hemisphere.
	Natal	Mar. 1967	Variety of experiments prepared by the University of New Hampshire launched on a Nike-Tomahawk.
	Natal	June 1967	In a tripartite agreement, German scientists used 2 Javelins in a variety of experiments and tests of equipment for the German Research Satellite.

[69]

.	Natal	Nov. 1967	Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories launched I Aerobee 150 and 2 Nike-lroquois rockets in airglow and micrometeoroid experiments.
	Natal	June 1968-Dec. 1968	Using 3 Black Brant IVs, Goddard and the Manned Spacecraft Center made radiation belt measurements.
	Natal	1968	Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories measured meteoroid flux with recoverable payloads on 4 Nike-lroquois rockets.
Canada	Fort Churchill	Continuous	127 NASA launches during period.
	Resolute Bay	Oct. 1967-Dec. 1968	Canadian and Goddard scientists fired 12 boosted Arcas rockets in studies of particle absorption and ionosphere in polar regions.
	Wallops I.	May 1968	With a Black Brant IV, Canadian engineers tested satellite instrumentation and measured radio noise
France	Wallops I.	Sept. 1965	Electron density and VLF field strength measured with Aerobee 150 payload.
	White Sands	Nov. 1965, June 1967	French experimenters provided part of Project Luste payloads(Aerobee 150s).
Germany	White Sands	Nov. 1965, Oct. 1966, June-Aug. 1967	German scientists collected dust samples as part of Project Luster (4 Aerobee 150s).
	Wallops I.	Aug. 1966	German researchers measured electron density using a Nike-Apache.
	Wallops I.	Sept. 1966	A Javelin and Nike-Tomahawk were used in experiments dealing with cometary physics, the magnetosphere, and the interplanetary plasma.
	Fort Churchill	Nov. 1966	German scientists tested instrumentation for German Research Satellite and performed various experiments using a Nike-Apache.
	Kiruna, Sweden	Apr. 1967-Apr. 1968	Same as Wallops Island location for Sept. 1966, using 10 Nike-Apaches.
	Natal, Brazil	June 1967	Same as Fort Churchill location for Nov. 1966, using Javelins.

[70]

Country	Location	Date(s)	Details
.
.	Kiruna, Sweden	Dec. 1967	Same as above, using 1 Nike-Apache.
	Thumba, India	Mar. 1968	Germany and India cooperated in barium ion cloud experiment with 4 Nike-Apaches.
	Kiruna, Sweden	June 1968	Micrometeoroid detection experiments, using 2 Nike-Apaches.
Greece	NASA ship off Greece	May 1966	Goddard scientists studied ionosphere during total solar eclipse.
India	Thumba	1964 - 1966	30 boosted Darts fired in meteorological program supporting the Indian Ocean Expedition.
	Thumba	Mar. 1966-Dec. 1968	Long series of various experiments prepared by the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad launched by 15 Nike-Apaches.
	Thumba	1968	New Delhi National Physical Laboratory measured electron/ion densities, Lyman-alpha radiation, and X-rays with a Nike-Apache payload.
	Thumba	Mar. 1968	Goddard payloads on 2 boosted Arcas rockets investigated electron density in equatorial ionosphere.
Israel	White Sands	Nov. 1965, Oct. 1966, June-Aug. 1967	University of Tel Aviv participated in Project Luster Aerobee firings to gather samples of extraterrestrial dust.
Japan	Wallops I.	Apr. 1962-Oct. 1964	Goddard and Japanese Radio Research Laboratories measured electron temperature and density using 3 Nike-Cajuns, 2 Aerobee 150s, and 1 Javelin.
	Wallops I.	Apr. 1967	Japanese scientists fired 10 boosted Arcas rockets and 10 Japanese MT-135 rockets in a series of meteorological experiments.
The Netherlands	Coronie, Surinam	Sept. 1965	4 Nike-Apaches fired in sodium-vapor experiments.
	White Sands	Oct. 1967	An Aerobee 150 launched by the Laboratory for Space Research to investigate spatial distribution of solar X-ray sources.

[71]

New Zealand	Karikari Peninsula	May 1965	Goddard and the University of Canterbury used 7 boosted Arcas rockets (one a test vehicle) to measure electron density and ionospheric absorption.
Norway/Denmark	Andoya	Mar. 1965-Mar. 1967	Goddard and Norwegian scientists cooperated in a series of ionospheric physics and energetic particles experiments. Vehicles: 3 Nike-Cajuns, 12 Nike-Apaches, 2 boosted Arcas rockets.
	Andoya	Mar. 1966	Goddard and Norwegian cooperative experiment using an ion spectrometer launched by a Nike-Apache.
	Wallops I.	1968	Same as above, using a Nike-Apache.
	Andoya	Aug. 1967-1968	Polar ionosphere and radiation instrument launched on 4 Sidewinder-Arcas rockets by Goddard and Norway.
	Andoya	Sept. 1967	6 Nike-Tomahawks fired to compare techniques for measuring electric fields.
	Andoya	1968	Near-simultaneous launches of barium payloads and instruments to measure particles, and magnetic and electric fields. 5 Nike-Tomahawks used.
Pakistan	Sonmiani Beach	1964 - 1967	32 boosted Darts launched as meteorological support for Indian Ocean Expedition.
	Sonmiani Beach	Apr. 1965-Nov. 1967	Pakistani and British scientists combined to make meteorological experiments using grenades released from 2 Nike-Cajuns and 4 Nike-Apaches.
	Sonmiani Beach	Feb. 1966	Cooperative experiment; sodium-vapor payloads on 2 Nike-Apaches.
Spain	Huelva	Oct. 1966-1968	National Aerospace Institute used boosted Darts to make meteorological measurements.
Sweden	Andoya	Mr. 1965	2 boosted Arcas rockets and 2 Nike-Apaches launched in auroral and ionospheric physics experiments.
	White Sands	Nov. 1965	Swedish scientists participated in Project Luster.
United Kingdom	White Sands	Nov. 1964, Nov. 1965, Oct. 1966	British scientists participated in Project Luster.
	Sonmiani Beach	Apr. 1965-Nov. 1967	Nike-Cajun and Nike-Apache launched in conjunction with Pakistan. Grenades released by 2 Nike-Cajuns

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Ionospheric physics. The eclipse expeditions revealed the collapse of the lower ionosphere as the Moon cut off solar radiation. The effects of the Lyman-alpha solar line on the D-region during the eclipse led to a better understanding of the mechanisms creating the ionosphere. The electron temperature in the ionosphere was found to drop more than 15 percent at 190 km (118 mi) during totality.

Solar physics. Improved instrument-pointing equipment led to high-resolution ultraviolet and X-ray pictures of the Sun's surface. During the eclipse expeditions, the Moon was employed as part of the experiment to help pinpoint sources of radiation on the Sun's surface.

Astronomy. Many new X-ray sources were found. Two classes of X-ray sources were differentiated. One was associated with optical emissions; the other was not. Ultraviolet astronomy also made progress as many spectrograms of stars in the 1000-2000 Å region were taken. Lines of carbon, silicon, arid nitrogen were observed. The effect of absorption on the Lyman-alpha line due to interstellar hydrogen was observed, but the results conflicted with those from radio astronomy. Collection of interplanetary dust during Project Luster indicated that the dust particles were complex, irregular, and highly vesicular. They might have been the remnants of disintegrated comets.

79. Committee on Rocket Research, Space Science Board, Sounding Rockets: Their Role in Space Research (Washington, 1969).

80. Medrow interview, Dec. 11, 1968.

81. E. E. Bissell, Report on United States-New Zealand Solar Eclipse Project, TM-X-55519 (1966).

82. Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1965, NASA SP-4006 (1966), pp. 110,121,163,195.

83. Ibid., pp. 518, 521. Also Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1966, NASA SP-4007 (1967), p. 326. See Table 6 for countries involved.

84. The bulk of the information in this table was extracted from the booklet "International Programs," prepared by the NASA Headquarters Office of International Affairs.

85. The detailed achievements of NASA space science programs during the 1965-1966 period may be found in Space Science 1965, NASA SP-136 (1967), and Space Science, 1966, NASA SP-155 (1967).

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