Measurements of Shuttle Glow on Mission STS 41-G

Abstract

The analysis of data from a set of experiments conducted during Mis sion STS 41-G has shown that the intensity of the shuttle glow measured during this mission was more than an order of magnitude less than the intensity measured under similar conditions on earlier flights. In addition the thruster enhanced glow was found to be spectrally continuous at the 0.4 nm resolution of the optical systems. Two separate activities, namely the Canadian Orbiter Glow (OGLOW) experiment and the USAF Auroral Photography Experiment (APE), were conducted simultaneously during STS 41-G and resulted in similar findings. The goals of both the OGLOW and the APE were to image earth aurora and airglow as well as glows emanating off shuttle surfaces. The experimental apparatus used for each experiment was a separate, hand-held, image intensified camera system with appropriate front-end optics. The interferometry data reported here were obtained using Fabry Perot techniques. Keywords: Space shuttles; Shuttle glow; Spacecraft interactions; Shuttle environment.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 29, 1988
Accession Number
ADA201769

Entities

People

  • D. J. Kendall
  • E. J. Llewellyn
  • G. R. Swenson
  • R. L. Gattinger
  • S. B. Mende
  • W. F. Denig

Organizations

  • Air Force Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Band Structures
  • Cameras
  • Energy Bands
  • Environment
  • Geometry
  • Intensity
  • Light Sources
  • Mass Spectrometers
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Photographs
  • Security
  • Space Shuttles
  • Spacecraft
  • Surface Temperature

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Space