NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, a sounding rocket carrying experiments developed by students for the agency’s RockSatX and RockOn programs, is scheduled to launch between 5:30 and 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 24, with a backup day on Thursday, June 25.
The RockSat and RockOn programs provide technical training and practical experiences that prepare and equip students to enter the United States aerospace industry. For the first time, NASA will combine both the RockSat and RockOn missions into one rocket, carrying experiments developed by approximately 250 participants from 38 university and community college teams.
“The challenge was to find ways to fit as many experiments as possible on a sounding rocket,” said Victoria Stoffel, head of workforce development at NASA Wallops. “The Sounding Rocket Program Office team found creative ways to fit nearly 50 experiments into one rocket. We are grateful to the Wallops teams for doing this to ensure students get the most benefit from this experience.”
RockOn teams work together to build their experiment onsite, gaining practical experience in putting together a circuit board from scratch and launching it into space. More advanced Rocketsat program teams design and build their experiments through design reviews based on larger NASA missions. Each team can experience what it’s like to work on a real NASA mission from development to launch.
RocketSat student experiments range from taking measurements of weather and radiation in Earth’s upper atmosphere to testing technologies like heat shields, space-debris tracking and robotic servicing that could help future NASA missions.
The Terrier-improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket, which will carry the experiments, is expected to reach an altitude of about 100 miles before descending into the Atlantic Ocean by parachute to be recovered. The launch may be visible in the Chesapeake Bay area.
The launch viewing area at the Wallops Visitor Center will open for viewing at 4:30 a.m. on June 24. A livestream will begin approximately 10 minutes before launch on the Wallops YouTube channel. Launch updates are also available through the centre’s Facebook page.
For more information about NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets
By jamie adkins
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
