![]() The Black Brant is a Canadian-designed sounding rocket built by Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, Manitoba. "The measurement is extremely difficult technically." The entrance of the CIBER optics, showing two near-infrared wide-field cameras (top), an absolute spectrometer (lower left) and a Fraunhofer line spectrometer (lower right). "The objectives of the experiment are of fundamental importance for astrophysics: to probe the process of first galaxy formation," said Jamie Bock, CIBER principal investigator from the California Institute of Technology. So even if you live well outside of the 120-second viewing zone on the map, it might still be worthwhile to try to get a look. The rocket will travel in a southeast direction, out over the Atlantic Ocean, and will reach a maximum altitude of 360 miles about 7.2 minutes after launch.Īccording to some "back of the envelope" calculations, theoretically at such an altitude the Nihka fourth stage of the Black Brant XII might just be visible out to a radius of up to 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers). The above map shows the predicted zones of visibility of the rocket for up to 120 seconds after liftoff from Wallops Island. This map shows the predicted zones of visibility of the Black Brant XII suborbital rocket that will launch Tuesday night from Wallops Island, Va. After its flight, the experiment is due to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean more than 400 miles off the Virginia coast, but will not be recovered. This vehicle will loft CIBER to a higher altitude than previously attained, thus providing longer observation time for the instruments. Tonight's scheduled launch will be a bit different in that CIBER will fly on a larger and more powerful rocket than ever before. After each flight, the experiment or payload was recovered for post-calibrations and re-flight. The previous launches were in 2009, 20, from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This will be the fourth flight for CIBER on a NASA sounding rocket. A Black Brant XII suborbital rocket will carry the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER) into Earth's upper atmosphere. ![]() The launch is scheduled to take place from NASA's launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The booster will be carrying instruments to study when the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe and how brightly they burned their nuclear fuel. EDT from people caught off guard by the sight of a sounding rocket. Skies across the Mid-Atlantic states are expected to be crystal clear tonight, and if all goes according to plan, the switchboards of local radio and television stations might see a sudden bevy of calls between 11 p.m.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |