VSSC: sounding rocket experiment successful

A view of the sounding rocket experiment carried out by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in the city on Friday.

A view of the sounding rocket experiment carried out by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in the city on Friday.  

Paint the twilight skies above Thiruvananthapuram in a pattern of white and blue, enthralling citizens.

The sounding rocket experiment carried out by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here on Friday painted the twilight skies above the capital city in a pattern of white and blue, enthralling citizens.

The experiment was aimed at studying the equatorial and lower ionosphere regions of the earth’s atmosphere as part of an effort to enrich the available atmospheric data and refine the models used for tropical weather prediction.

The programme utilised the RH-300 Mk2 rocket developed by VSSC to measure neutral wind in the dynamo region (80-120 km) of the equatorial ionosphere and perform cross validation using a technique known as independent Tri Methyl Aluminium (TMA) release.

Somanath greets team

VSSC Director S. Somanath, who witnessed the launch, congratulated the scientists.

Studies in the upper atmosphere and near the magnetic equator had universal appeal in scientific circles, he said.