Mesquito

The Mesquito sounding rocket
FunctionSounding rocket
ManufacturerNSROC
Country of originUnited States
Launch history
StatusRetired
Launch sitesLC-2, Wallops Island
Total launches3
Success(es)2
Failure(s)1
First flight6 May 2008
[edit on Wikidata]

The Mesquito is an American sounding rocket vehicle developed for the NASA Sounding Rocket Program on Wallops Island, Virginia. The Mesquito was developed to provide rocket-borne measurements of the mesospheric region of the upper atmosphere.[1] An area of great science interest is in the 82–95 km region, where the conventional understanding of atmospherics physics is being challenged.

The Mesquito is a two-stage sounding rocket using a 9-inch-diameter (229 mm) solid propellant rocket motor from surplus M26 MLRS artillery rocket as the first-stage. The non-propulsive second-stage dart contains a free-flying structural body that includes an avionics suite and an experiment space with interface.[2]

The maiden flight occurred on 6 May, 2008, from LC-2 at the Wallops Flight Facility. After three test launches, the project was shelved.[2]

Launch history

Date Time (GMT) S/N Mission Apogee Outcome Remarks
2008-05-06 18:08 12.065 Test 85 km Success Maiden flight[3]
2008-05-07 19:18 12.066 Test 15 km Failure Loss of control following burnout[3]
2009-12-16 13:46 12.068 Test 90 km Success Dart pinned to first stage[2][4]

References

  1. ^ "Mesquito". www.astronautix.com. Retrieved 2023-03-07.
  2. ^ a b c Krebs, Gunter Dirk. "Mesquito". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  3. ^ a b Flowers, Betty; Powell, Rebecca (2008-05-12). "Mesquito Launches" (PDF). Inside Wallops. Vol. XX-08, no. 17. NASA Wallops Flight Facility. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-16. Retrieved 2008-05-15.
  4. ^ "12.068 - Mesquito test flight" (PDF). Rocket Report. Fourth Quarter 2009. p. 1.
  • "Sounding Rocket Technology Development". NASA. Archived from the original on 2008-05-20.


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