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“A 1960s documentary on the intensive use of sounding rockets by U.S. scientists. Containing footage of many sounding rocket launches, a diagrammatic explanation of how sounding rockets fill the gap between balloons and satellites, an explanation of the conditions required for a testing site, recovery of experiments, various areas within a testing site, testing of rocket timers, telemetry and tracking equipment, a sounding rocket launchpad, control centre, closed-circuit observation equipment, recording of radar data, an example of how the facilities are used to launch a grenade experiment, starting with T-2 days [rocket moved from storage area to launcher, grenades loaded into nosecone, mating with second stage, meteorological balloon, final equipment checks on the sound ranging recorders, rocket controls are switched to internal power, launch, recordings of sound waves].”
NASA film HQ-63, produced by Cinefonics, Cook Technological Center.
Public domain film from NASA, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are used to carry instruments from 50 to 1,500 kilometres (31 to 932 mi) above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites (the maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 kilometres (25 mi) and the minimum for satellites is approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi)). Certain sounding rockets, such as the Black Brant X and XII, have an apogee between 1,000 and 1,500 kilometres (620 and 930 mi); the maximum apogee of their class. Sounding rockets often use military surplus rocket motors. NASA routinely flies the Terrier Mk 70 boosted Improved Orion lifting 270–450-kilogram (600–990 lb) payloads into the exoatmospheric region between 100 and 200 kilometres (62 and 124 mi)…
Sounding rockets are commonly used for:
– Research in aeronomy…
– Ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy…
– Microgravity research…
Operators and programmes
– Poker Flat Research Range is owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks and is the largest range in the world.
– The British Skylark rocket was first designed in 1955 and was used for 441 launches before it was terminated in 2005
– ISRO’s VSSC developed the Rohini sounding rockets series starting in 1967 that reached altitudes of 500 km
– The Australian Space Research Institute (ASRI) operates a Small Sounding Rocket Program (SSRP) for launching payloads (mostly educational) to altitudes of about 7 km
– Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) launched a Sounding Rocket (Vyom) in May, 2012, which reached an altitude of 15 km. Vyom Mk-II is in its conceptual design stage with an objective to reach 70 km altitude with 20 kg payload capacity.
– The University of Queensland operates Terrier-Orion sounding rockets (capable of reaching altitudes in excess of 300 km) as part of their HyShot hypersonics research
– Iranian Space Agency operated its first sounding rocket in February 2007
– UP Aerospace operates the SpaceLoft XL sounding rocket that can reach altitudes of 225 km
– TEXUS and MiniTEXUS, German rocket programmes at Esrange for DLR and ESA microgravity research programmes
– Astrium operates missions with sounding rockets on a commercial basis, as prime contractor to ESA or the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).
– MASER, Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for ESA microgravity research programmes
– MAXUS, German-Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for ESA microgravity research programmes
– REXUS, German-Swedish rocket programme at Esrange for DLR and ESA student experiment programmes
– The NASA Sounding Rocket Program
– The JAXA operates the sounding rockets S-310/S-520/SS-520
– New Zealand company Rocket Lab is developing the highly adaptable Atea series of sounding rockets to carry 5–70 kg payloads to altitudes of 250 km or greater
– The Meteor rockets were built in Poland between 1963 and 1974.
– The Kartika I rocket was built and launched in Indonesia by LAPAN on 1964, becoming the second sounding rocket in Asia after Japan.
– The Soviet Union developed an extensive programme using rockets like the M-100, the most used ever, and now Russia keeps it with the MR-20.
