Photo of an aurora, taken by Bill Peria at Poker Flat Research Range, AK

*AMICIST*

Auroral Microphysics and Ion Conics: Investigation of Space and Time

Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS)
University of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824

Introducing AMICIST...

From Desktop to Launchpad...
The AMICIST payload was developed by the Magnetospheric Research Group at UNH, NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Goddard Space Flight Center, and Cornell University. The dual payload was launched by a quadruple stage, Black Brant XII sounding rocket on February 24, 1995, at 10:21:46 UT, from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska just north of Fairbanks. The total mass of the payload was approximately 260 kg, and it was about 4 meters long.

Its Purpose...
Its primary aim was to take various nighttime particle readings from an altitude of 900 km, above the visible aurora. Once in flight the smaller, sub payload separated from the main so that readings could be taken from two different perspectives. This would help scientists note and observe similarities and incongruities within the plasma.

The payload shown here was flown by Black Brant XII Flight 40.007 UE, and was launched from Poker Flat, Alaska, just north of Fairbanks, in February 1995.

Here is an orientation sketch showing spin rates of the dual payload and their anticipated separation velocity during AMICIST's 15 minute flight.

Information

-Here is some preliminary data analysis.
-The people Involved


Other AMICIST Pages, and Web Pages of the Groups Involved:

[www]University of New Hampshire
UNH Information
UNH Space Physics Laboratory
[www]National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Wallops Flight Facility at Goddard Space Flight Center
The International Solar-Terrestrial Physics Science Initiative (ISTP)
ISTP's AMICIST Summary
[www]Cornell University
C.U. Information
[www]University of Alaska, Fairbanks
The Geophysical Institute
Poker Flat Research Range


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