Design of a small instrumented atmospheric descent probe NASA Ames Research Center

Sponsor: NASA Ames Research Center (Marc Murbach) Budget: $7.5K NASA Donations: Launch Operations, Support, and Launch Vehicle Expected Flight: March or April, 2007 from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia

To design, construct, and fly a small atmospheric descent probe carrying an atmospheric structure instrument to measure acceleration, temperature, and pressure throughout descent. To measure pressure, temperature, and acceleration during descent to to characterize the atmosphere, and to reconstruct probe descent trajectory. Project Goals

The descent probe will be flown to an altitude in excess of 200 km on a sounding rocket launched from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The team will build, test, and operate the probe, and will analyze data received from the probe. Data will be stored on-board and/or telemetered to the ground in real time, and will be used to characterize the atmospheric structure, and to reconstruct the probe descent trajectory. Team members will participate in the launch through the live web-broadcast of a camera mounted on the rocket, and it is possible that 1 or 2 team members may attend the launch and participate in launch preparations and operations. Project Outline

Design Possible tradeoffs include a parachute descent with both real time telemetry and on-board data storage vs. a free-fall descent with all data telemetered to the ground prior to impact (since the probe likely will not survive impact and may not be recovered). General physical specs are TBD, but the probe will be approximately 10 inches in diameter (25.4 cm) and several kg (about 6 pounds or less).

UI Current Happenings