36.270 UG Black Brant IX was launched from White Sands Missile Range, NM on May 21, 2010. The purpose of this mission is to sample the interface at the local cavity wall and determine whether the gas at the interface is flowing into the cavity or away from it.

The Diffuse Interstellar Cloud Experiment (DICE) will record high resolution (R ~ 60,000) spectra of the O VI doublet (1032 Å, 1038 Å). The selected targets, δ Sco and π Sco, separated by only ~ 10 parsecs, lie on opposite sides of a nearby hot/cold gas interface, evidenced by the increase in both Na I and O VI column densities between the two (Jenkins 1978, Hobbs 1974). DICE should be able to observe these targets with a velocity resolution of 5 km/s and signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 50 – 100, and allow us to fit profiles to individual components of the spectra, calculating column densities, centroid velocities, and Doppler broadening parameters. The Local Inter Stellar Medium (LISM) provides an excellent laboratory for studying interstellar gas dynamics and the distribution of energy and matter throughout the Galaxy. Understanding the role of O VI in our own neighborhood will aid in analyzing the ISM of galaxies through the universe.

The Principal Investigator is Dr. James Green, University of Colorado.