What is a suborbital sounding rocket?
A sounding rocket derives its name from the nautical term “sound” which means to measure. A sounding rocket is a rocket that takes measurements of various components of earth’s atmosphere, the radiation surrounding earth or collects data on the sun, stars and galaxies. A suborbital sound rocket takes measurements over its parabolic path – it does not orbit the earth. The sounding rocket is made up of two parts: the experimental payload and the solid-fuel rocket motor. The payload section houses the experimental instruments and is used to transmit experimental data to earth. To keep costs down, many of the motors used in NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program are surplus military motors. • What type of rocket will we use? The two-stage Nike-Orion rocket will be used for this experiment. • What are the dimensions of the rocket? The rocket is 10.1m long with an average diameter of 0.39m. • What are some speeds and accelerations experienced by the rocket during its flight? The speeds and accelerat
