For Release: August 7, 1997
Catherine Watson
(757) 864-6122
Nicole Forest
(757) 864-5036
RELEASE NO. 97-99
NEW OZONE EXPERIMENT TO BE LAUNCHED FROM WHITE SANDS
Rocket Measurements in Conjunction with Space Shuttle
Overflight
As the space shuttle Discovery streaks across the New Mexico sky
the morning of August 8, a rocket will be launched from the White
Sands Missile Range below. That rocket will carry several new
instruments for measuring ozone high in the Earth's atmosphere, and
those measurements will be compared to data derived from two
instruments released into orbit by Discovery.
The Mesosphere-Thermosphere Emissions for Ozone Remote Sensing
(METEORS) experiment will be carried to an altitude of 72 miles
over the New Mexico desert by a Black Brant sounding rocket. The
numerous METEORS instruments will use four independent measurement
techniques to measure ozone in the Earth's upper atmosphere. The
two experiments deployed by the space shuttle will measure ozone,
temperature and other chemical species at the same time but from
different angles.
"This experiment is unique in that it is the first time, to my
knowledge, that four independent techniques of measuring ozone in
the mesosphere and lower thermosphere have ever been used together
in the same air mass," said Dr. Marty Mlynczak, principal
investigator of the METEORS project and a research scientist at
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
"It gives us an excellent opportunity not only to measure the
ozone abundance in this region [of the atmosphere] but to conduct a
critical comparison of the techniques themselves," Mlynczak
said.
The METEORS instruments will be carried in the top portion of
the Black Brant rocket and will begin measurements at an altitude
of approximately 30 miles (after the nose cone is deployed). The
METEORS instruments will make measurements between the altitudes of
30 and 60 miles (the Earth's mesosphere and lower thermosphere),
both on the way up and on the way down. The entire METEORS flight
from launch to parachute-assisted landing will last about six
minutes.
"Mesospheric ozone is difficult to measure," Mlynczak said.
"There is still a long-standing discrepancy between the amount of
ozone measured in the mesosphere and that which we predict from
chemicals models. The METEORS measurements, coupled with other
chemical measurements from the [shuttle] payloads, will add to our
understanding of the ozone chemistry of the mesosphere."
METEORS will measure infrared emissions from molecular oxygen,
allowing scientists to determine the amount of ozone present. In
addition, two small rockets will be launched, one prior to and one
after the METEORS launch, to measure temperatures in the mesosphere
and lower thermosphere.
"METEORS is a pathfinding mission to an upcoming NASA satellite
experiment (TIMED-Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and
Dynamics)," Mlynczak added. Three of the four techniques being
tested by METEORS will be used in less than three years aboard the
TIMED satellite, which will enable scientists to begin long-term
studies of the Earth's upper atmosphere. NASA Langley scientists
also will contribute one of the instruments aboard TIMED Mlynczak
said.
NASA Langley is leading the METEORS experiment; coordinating the
science team activities; and defining the scientific purpose of the
mission, the overall goals, the measurements and the
instrumentation. The METEORS science team is composed of several
university-affiliated research laboratories (including Utah State
and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory), NASA centers and
private companies. NASA Wallops is providing the rockets which will
make the temperature measurements prior to and after the METEORS
payload launch. G&A Technical Software in Hampton, Va. is
providing data analysis support.
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