36.391 DS TUN/NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
HElium Resonance Scatter in the Corona and HELiosphere (HERSCHEL) 2

  • Mission
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This investigation is named after John Herschel, whose observation of Halley's Comet's tail led him to hypothesize the presence of a "repulsive force" known today as the solar wind. The HElium Resonance Scatter in the Corona and HELiosphere (HERSCHEL) program is a multi-year effort to design, fabricate, test, launch and analyze data from novel instrumentation on a suborbital rocket.

The scientific objectives of the HERSCHEL II mission are to: 1) Investigate the origin of the slow solar wind; 2) Investigate the variation of helium abundance in the coronal structures (a) departures from primordial composition (b) fractionation region for helium in the solar atmosphere; 3) Facilitate future investigation of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), kinematics, and solar cycle evolution of the electron, proton, and helium corona.

The Principal Investigator is Dr. Tun /Naval Research Laboratory.

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 HERSCHEL II mission will be launched from White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.

 

 

Photos not currently available.