The Investigation of Spacecraft Optical Environment (ISOE).
Abstract
The Auroral Photography Experiment (APE) is a joint experiment to make observations of shuttle induced emission effects such as shuttle glow and thruster induced effects. In addition, observations will be made of natural background phenomena such as the aurora and airglow. At very high latitude where the shuttle transits the auroral regions one attempts to observe the direct effects of precipitation and precipitation induced discharges. In this program the Air Force flew Lockheed instrumentation as secondary payload on the shuttle and the payload/mission specialists made observations through the orbiter windows with the equipment. For the first flight in late 1988 the so-called APE configuration A was flown. The lightning conditions were unfavorable for the shuttle orbit flown for this mission. In November 1989 the APE experiment was flown on SIS-33 flight and APE had several performances. There were a number of difficulties with the experiment and it was found that the mechanical mounting of the instruments was not totally satisfactory. There were some problems with the way the film was loaded for some of the observing opportunities. Some faint spectrum of the thruster firings and shuttle glow were obtained. As a result of the experiences gained on this flight we have made several improvements and modifications to the experiment. The experiment will be reflown again in the near future with the improved Configuration B which includes the spectrometer and the Fabry-Perot.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 20, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA239211
Entities
People
- G. R. Swenson
- R. E. Meyerott
- S. B. Mende
Organizations
- Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space