SIERRA - Sounding of the
Ion Energization Region: Resolving Ambiguities
SIERRA - Sounding of the
Ion Energization Region: Resolving Ambiguities
Sponsored by NASA Office of Space Science
Cornell Project Participants: Paul M. Kintner, Jr. (PI), Mark L. Psiaki, and Steve Powell
The SIERRA mission will probe the ionosphere using a sounding rocket with two daughter payloads that fly free of the main payload. The main payload and the daughter payloads will each have booms with electric probes that will be used to measure the in situ electric field. SIERRA's goal is to make simultaneous spatially-distributed electric field measurements in order to resolve the so-called space-time ambiguities that appear in single-point measurements.
Psiaki's main contribution to the effort is in the area of wire boom deployment mechanism design. The picture shown at the top right is that of a single daughter payload after the yo-yo-type wire boom deployment mechanism has almost reached a state of full deployment. Each of the four wire booms is 2.5 m in length, and they deploy in less than 20 seconds.
Related Cornell Site in Space Physics and Atmospheric Studies
Last updated 9 Feb. 2001