Hardware for Studying Aurora

The aurora borealis is a visible phenomenon that occurs in our atmosphere at high latitudes. The aurora occurs when energized electrons strike the neutral atmosphere and make the molecules glow. The shape of the aurora is determined by the ionosphere’s coupling to the magnetosphere, Earth’s magnetic field. The 317 Rocket Lab’s goal is to study aurora to gain a stronger understanding of the ionosphere’s structure.

One method of gathering in situ data at our target altitude (150-500km) is with sounding rockets. These are small, relatively affordable rockets which house scientific instrumentation in their payloads to collect data. Our current sounding rocket mission, the GNEISS (Geophysical Non-Equilibrium Ionospheric System Science) mission, aims to study spatial and temporal variations along auroral arcs to further understand the ionosphere’s structure. We will collect this data by sending two identical, near-simultaneous sounding rockets through two different slices of the same auroral arc. Analyzing the difference in the ionospheric parameters on these two trajectories through the aurora will fill gaps in our understanding of variations along aurora which have not previously been studied. Launching near-simultaneous rockets is rare. Moreover, this sounding rocket mission will be the first to launch two rockets within a two-minute window with azimuthal separation.

For my thesis, I have designed and updated a family of flight hardware to collect in situ auroral data. I made significant mechanical improvements and fabrication process changes to our Petite Ion Probes (PIPs) which collect ionospheric data. These PIPs reside on the main sounding rocket payloads and on ejectable subpayloads, called Bobs, which I have also improved. In addition, I have made new complementary structural supports for the PIPs, called PIP trees, and new electronics housing boxes, the shield board box and the Lattice box, for the GNEISS sounding rockets. Each of these designs was constrained by the sounding rocket environment, the instrument’s requirements, and manufacturing limitations.

These changes will improve the manufacturing process while maintaining, and potentially improving, the quality of data acquisition for the GNEISS rocket mission. Therefore, it will contribute to our understanding of the ionosphere’s structure. Additionally, these improvements may inform the hardware design of future sounding rocket missions, aurora focused or otherwise.