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36.384 UG MCCANDLISS/JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Off Axis Far-ultraviolet Off Rowland-circle Telescope for Imaging and Spectroscopy (OAxFORTIS)
- Mission
- Vehicle
- Launch
- Photos
The primary science goal for this mission is to identify the progenitor population of the hot horizontal branch in the globular cluster M10. These stars are UV luminous stars at the end stage of evolution that started with a long period of steady hydrogen burning on the stellar main sequence of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. The evolution quickens with the exhaustion of hydrogen in the stellar core when the progenitor star starts to contract and enters a phase of shell hydrogen burning. The OAxFORTIS mission observations will acquire far-UV spectra to measure the temperature, mass, radius, and chemical composition of these hot stars and determine their origin.
The Principal Invetigator is Dr. McCandliss/Johns Hopkins University
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.
The FORTIS mission will be launched from White Sands Missile Range, NM.