Sounding rocket

Instruments onboard the rocket

The Japanese sounding rocket S-310-35 was launched from Andøya Rocket Range (ARR) in Norway. The apogee of the flight was about 140 km altitude, and during the ascent, the rocket was separated into mother/daughter payloads to avoid the interference of the instruments.

More photos during the campaign are at ARR website.

Instruments installed on the daughter (upper) payload are as follows:

• Nitrogen temperature instrument (NTV)
  Rotational and vibrational temperatures and number density of molecular nitrogen are measured at 100-150 km altitudes using electron beam fluorescence technique.
• Constant-biased Langmuir probe (CLP)
  Relative variation of electron density is measured by a probe with a fixed bias voltage.
• Auroral particle detector (APD)
  Electron energy spectrum in the medium energy (3-50 keV) range is measured by using a solid-state avalanche photodiode.
• Horizon sensor (HOS)
  The direction of the horizon is detected by an infrared sensor to determine the attitude of the rocket.

The mother (lower) payload's instruments are as follows:

• Auroral photometer (AGL)
  Intensity of auroral (557.7nm) emission line is measured by a filtered photometer.
• Langmuir probe (FLP)
  Electron temperature and density are measured by a cylindrical Langmuir probe.
• Impedance probe (NEI)
  Absolute number density of electron is derived from detection of upper hybrid resonance frequency.
• Surface finder (SFF)
  The Earth's surface is detected by an infrared sensor to determine the attitude of the rocket.