The methodology developed under this grant is primarily an effort to develop new sub-payload technologies and an inexpensive method of testing them. The three technical goals are: (1) to improve and test the existing spring sub-payload ejection system and rocket propelled ejection system, (2) to test the performance of ampule-deployed radar chaff (rather than TMA) to track high altitude winds, and (3) to develop and test sensor and telemetry packages to monitor the attitude stability and position of deployed sub-payloads.  The proposed effort will also demonstrate very low cost, low altitude rockets as an inexpensive flight test of payloads prior to expensive sounding rocket deployments. The payloads tested on 5 to 7 low-cost rockets will be (1) foil chaff designed for radar tracking of mesospheric winds, (2) plasma instruments composed of GPS monitors, magnetometers, and accelerometers, and (3) android phones for the investigation of off-the-shell instrumentation and telemetry.  Finally, a campaign of 2 to 4 sounding rocket deployments on ‘as-available’ flights from Poker Flats will be used to test spring ejection without spin up, spring ejection with spin up for sub-payload attitude control, and rocket ejection

Methodology The methodology is based on making comparisons between downward electron flux, DC electric fields, electromagnetic waves, and auroral morphology. The proposed project will launch a rocket from Poker Flat over Fort Yukon to an apogee of 200-300 km when arc or arcs are present that has optical shear-flows present. Data from downgoing electron fluxes over a large energy range, electron density (Langmuir probe), electric and magnetic fields from the in-situ rocket payload and images from all-sky and narrow field cameras at Poker Flat and Fort Yukon will be produced and analyzed. All instrumentation is selected so that high temporal resolution can be achieved.  

 The FWMI prototype development is underway at USU/SDL. To develop the FWMI, USU/SDL is leveraging the successful implementation of a rocket-borne Michelson interferometer/spectrometer system that was designed by USU/SDL in the early 1980s and flown multiple times on sounding rockets. This sensor was designated the Rocket-Borne Field-Widened Interferometer-II (RBFWI-2). Utilizing modern designs, technologies, and components, the new prototype FWMI will significantly enhance the original RBFWI-2 to meet three technical goals: (1) extended spectral coverage, (2) higher spectral resolution, and (3) extended dynamical range. USU/SDL also intends to achieve large reductions in mass, volume, and power. The resultant prototype FWMI will then be a pathfinder for future missions that focus on addressing key scientific objectives and critical supporting science questions in auroral ionosphere-thermosphere energetics.

The successful flight of RBFWI-2 established a solid foundation for the development of the prototype FWMI. Based on that heritage, the current effort focuses on the development of a new optical detector system, a new sensor signal-conditioning system based on modern electronics, as well as extending the displacement of the optics to increase spectral resolution. These new techniques and other modern technologies will be added to the proven RBFWI-2 legacy design to allow the prototype FWMI to serve as the foundation for a flight FWMI version capable of meeting the targeted instrument specifications that are summarized below:

1. Spectral bandpass of 1300-8100 cm-1

2. Spectral resolution of ≤ 1.0 cm-1

3. Dynamic range characterized by a 10-13 W cm-2 sr-1(cm-1)-1 NER.

We propose a three-year effort to upgrade our existing sub-arcsecond Lyman-alpha telescope payload to improve the observing cadence by a factor of 2, increase the signal-to-ratio by a factor of 4, and launch the payload twice. With this upgraded performance, we will be able to investigate a number of scientific questions regarding the structure and heating of the solar atmosphere that address NASA’s Strategic Goal to understand the Sun and its effects on Earth and the Solar System. Specifically, the ultra-high resolution and high-temporal cadence VAULT2.0 science program and associated launch campaigns will answer the following five questions:

? What is the role of Type-II spicules in the transfer of energy and mass across the chromosphere-corona interface?

? Does neutral plasma absorption of the EUV emission from active region moss explain the discrepancies in the models of coronal loop heating?

? Where are the photospheric footpoints of coronal loops?

? What is the structure of coronal holes in the Lyman-alpha temperature range?

? What is the absolute abundance of H I at the base of the solar wind?

Despite decades of ground-based observations, the chromosphere remains one of the least understood layers of the solar atmosphere because of our limited understanding of the physical processes that govern it. In the last few years, the chromosphere has been propelled to the forefront of solar physics research thanks to spectacular new observations from space (Hinode/SOT and VAULT), and ground (e.g., SOUP, IBIS, DOT, SST), and the advent of sophisticated numerical simulations which are beginning to address the complex physics of the optically thick chromospheric plasmas and are opening up the interpretation of the observations. With these new capabilities come exciting new ideas regarding the role of the chromosphere in supplying the mass and energy to heat the corona, the nature of filaments, and the contribution of chromospheric jets to the solar wind. These ideas are challenging our traditional views of coronal heating (a long-standing mystery of solar physics), the existence of the ‘transition region’, the role of neutral plasmas in coronal emission and even the dominance of magnetic fields at coronal heights. The recent SMEX selection of a chromosphere-oriented mission, IRIS, is further evidence for the renewed importance of chromospheric physics. Observational limitations, however, are impeding further development and validation of these ideas. Both theoretical and observational considerations point to the importance of tracing the mass and energy on small spatial scales through the upper chromosphere and transition region (e.g., De Pontieu et al. 2007a, 2009, 2011; Vourlidas et al. 2010). This layer corresponds roughly to the temperature range from 10,000K (ground-based Hα) to 80,000K (space-based HeI). The requirement for high spatial- and temporal-resolution observations in this temperature range cannot be met fully by current instrumentation. Narrow-band, high-resolution images from TRACE, Hinode, STEREO and SOHO have inadequate temperature coverage or poor resolution. The SDO/AIA observations are skewed towards higher temperature plasmas. The SOHO spectrometers CDS and SUMER have good temperature coverage and fidelity, but limited spatial and temporal resolution and more importantly, limited operational lifetime. Hinode/EIS observations are mostly confined to the upper solar atmosphere while SOT observations are confined to the lower chromosphere (≤ 10,000K). The forthcoming IRIS satellite will partially cover the gap between chromosphere and transition region by obtaini

Q-thruster technology is a mission enabling form of electric propulsion and is already being traded by NASA's Concept Architecture Team (CAT) & Human Space Flight (HSF) Architecture Team (HAT) as an electric propulsion effector for Asteroid Recovery Vehicle (ARV) mission extensibility options out to Mars.  The Nuclear Electric Propulsion mission allows for rapid transit while allowing for a heavy, more near-term reactor design and the Solar Electric Propulsion mission allows for a power starved approach with similar mission durations to Design Reference Architecture - DRA 5.0 that would not be possible without the Q-thruster technology.