36.282 US KANKELBORG/MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY
Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph (MOSES-II)

  • Mission
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The Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph (MOSES-II) mission is the second flight of the MOSES instrument, an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectrometer. The first mission (MOSES-I, 36.193) imaged the He ii 303.8 A and Si xi 303.3 A lines with a field of view of 20’ X 10’ at a resolution of 1.2”. It also successfully demonstrated the concept of a high-resolution slitless spectrograph. MOSES-II will fly essentially the same instrument but will examine the Ne vii 465.2A line, a change effected with new multilayer optics and a redesigned diffraction grating.

The scientific objectives of the mission are as follows:
1. Obtain line intensity images for Ciii 459.3A and Ne vii 465.2A at 1.2” resolution over a 20’ X 10’ field of view with reasonable cadence (approx. 45 s). The cadence will be nominally lower than that of MOSES-I due to the necessarily longer exposure times for Ne vii.
2. Obtain simultaneous line width and doppler shifts for the Ne vii line.

The MOSES rocket payload consists of two instruments:
1. Imaging Spectrograph (the main science instrument)
2. Hα Guide Telescope

The imaging spectrograph is a slitless objective grating EUV telescope with CCD detectors at three spectral orders (m = -1; 0; +1). The read out electronics (ROE) acquire the data from the CCDs and combines it into one stream, and this data is stored by the flight computer.
The Principal Investigator is Dr. Kankelborg/Montana State University.

Drawing of a Terrier-Black Brant sounding rocket

The Black Brant 9 is a two stage sounding rocket with a Terrier first stage and Black Brant second stage. The Black Brant 9 can reach altitudes of about 600 km. Payloads weighing from 400 to 1200 pounds can be flown.

Additional sounding rocket vehicles

Google Earth Map showing White Sands Missile Range.

The MOSES II mission was launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico on August 27, 2015.

Photos not currently available.