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1 ABC-CLIO ebook Collection x close PRINT (select citation style below) Antarctica and the Arctic Circle: A Geographic Encyclopedia of the Earth's Polar Regions By: Andrew J. Hund, Editor Rocket Ranges in the Arctic Dirk Lummerzheim There are three permanent rocket ranges in the Arctic. They are used for sounding rocket launches to study the atmosphere and near space. All three rocket ranges also host large observatories to support the science experiments. The three ranges are ESRANGE (European Space Range) in Kiruna, Sweden; Andy Rocket Range in Andenes, Norway; and PFRR (Poker Flat Research Range) near Fairbanks, Alaska. To support the rocket launches, the ranges have a number of radar and tracking antennas for communication with the scientific payload. To avoid dropping burned-out rocket stages onto roads, pipelines, houses, or villages, rocket ranges have designated drop zones where no damage would be done by falling debris. This limits the flight path: the smaller the drop zone, the less altitude and range can the rockets have. None of these launches reach orbit; they all follow a parabola as a flight path and fall back to the ground after reaching 606 their maximum altitude. Small rockets to study the atmosphere, like the ozone layer, go up to miles ( km), while larger rockets to study the aurora or other high altitude or spacerelated subjects can reach as high as 900 miles (1,500 km) or more. 1 of 5 3/6/15, 10:24 PM

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3 In this Saturday, February 18, 2012, photo provided by NASA Wallops, a rocket flies through the aurora borealis after lifting off from the University of Alaska s Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, Alaska. The mission was launched by a NASA-funded group of 60 researchers studying electrical activity in the aurora borealis and the likelihood it s interfering with GPS and other signals. Cornell University says the 46-foot rocket sent back data as it flew through the aurora at an altitude of 217 miles. (NASA Wallops/Lee Wingfield/AP Photo) ESRANGE is the smallest of the three ranges, located at 67.9 N, 21.1 E. The ESRANGE was officially inaugurated in September 1966, and the first rocket was launched there the following November. More than 400 rockets for scientific experiments have been launched there. Because of the relatively small landing zone, most rockets have been launched to altitudes below about 150 miles (250 km). The exception being several microgravity launch experiments. These were launched with guided rockets and reached altitudes of more than 350 miles (700 km). ESRANGE is also used to launch high-altitude balloons. The first balloon was launched in 1974, and more than 550 balloon launches have taken place since then. Andøya Rocket Range is on the west coast of Norway, two degrees north of the Arctic Circle, at 69.3 N 16 E. Since 1962, more than 1,200 sounding rockets have been launched from here. The launch site is on the coast, and launches are directed toward the north and west, so that the flights are over water. Usually the science data from the rocket experiment are radioed to the ground in real time, and the payload is a one-use experiment. Sometimes the instruments on the rocket are so valuable that they are floating down on a parachute to be recovered by ship from the ocean. In 1997, a secondary launch site was established on Svalbard, near Ny-Alesund, one of the world s northernmost towns at N E. Rockets from here fly north toward the pole. Andøya also launches balloons, from the Norwegian mainland as well as from Svalbard. The rocket range HOW TO LAUNCH A ROCKET The very first thing you need is a really good idea for an experiment. As an example, we will look at the Horizontal E-region Experiment (HEX) launch. It is assumed that the heating from the aurora would set up convection in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, but this is almost impossible to observe that from the ground. The HEX team proposed to fly a rocket on a nearly horizontal path at about miles ( km) altitude across an aurora arc and release a trail of tri-methylaluminate (TMA). This is a liquid that will ignite and burn slowly, leaving a glowing smoke trail. This should be distorted by any wind that the aurora would create. A second rocket would put two nearly vertical trails near the same aurora. NASA liked the idea and provided funds to conduct the experiment. While the payloads were built, the HEX team also built cameras that would observe the TMA trail from several ground stations. These cameras were located in Alaska and Yukon Territory to observe the trail from enough different places that would allow triangulation and thus precise location and altitude of the TMA trail. This process took about two years. Then, the rockets and payloads were assembled in Poker Flat, and the remote ground stations were set up in Ft Yukon, Toolik Lake, and Old Crow. When everything was ready, the wait for a suitable aurora began. Night after night, the scientists watched the sky with the rockets ready for launch. Since moonlight would be too bright, the launch window was limited to a two-week period when the moon would not rise at night. But either it was cloudy or the aurora was not at the right spot in the sky, and the two weeks went by without a launch. A second launch window was approved after the next full moon, and this time the weather and the aurora cooperated. The rockets were launched 5 minutes apart, and the TMA trails were observed for 20 minutes. The result from the analysis of 3 of 5 3/6/15, 10:24 PM

4 this experiment showed that the wind pattern is much more complicated than simple convection by auroral heating.dirk Lummerzheim is complemented by the Alomar Observatory (Arctic Lidar Observatory for Middle Atmosphere Research). The observatory provides space for instruments that scientists bring there for their observations. There are also permanently installed instruments, notably lidars. A lidar shoots a powerful laser beam into the air and observes the light that is scattered back from various altitudes. They can measure a number of parameters like temperature, density, and wind at altitudes exceeding 60 miles (100 km) Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) is located approximately 30 miles (48 km) north of Fairbanks, Alaska, and is operated by the University of Alaska s Geophysical Institute (65.1 N, W). This places the rocket range under the auroral oval and makes it a prime research site for aurora and space weather studies. The first launch from here occurred in March PFRR has a very large drop zone, which extends from the Trans-Alaska pipeline in the west to the Canadian border in the east, and north into the Arctic Ocean. This makes it the largest land-based rocket range in the world. More than 330 sounding rockets have been launched here. After a launch, the range makes an effort to locate and retrieve debris from the different rocket stages that have fallen into the Alaskan wilderness. PFRR has five launch pads. This makes it possible to have more than one experiment waiting to be launched at a time or have experiments with multiple launches. For these experiments, rockets have been launched at less than five-minute intervals. To support rocket experiments, there are a number of observation sites throughout Alaska, where downrange instruments or observers can be positioned. Permanent sites are in Ft Yukon, Eagle, at the Toolik Lake Research Station, and on the north coast at Kaktovik. PFRR also houses several ground-based observatories. There is the Davis Science Center, where mostly optical instruments like all-sky cameras, narrow-field auroral cameras, and spectrometers are based. There is a lidar facility with a number of lidars for different wavelengths and observation purposes. There is also a large incoherent scatter radar (PFISR) and other radio wave instruments. All these facilities can support rocket experiments, but they work mostly independent of the rocket program and have large science programs of their own. PFRR also has a large program for research and technology of unmanned aircraft. These unmanned aerial vehicles are used for many projects, including supporting firefighting of forest fires, counting seals or whales in the Arctic Ocean, or technology testing. These planes are launched from mobile launchers on trucks or ships, and are controlled by a pilot on the ground. There are more rocket launch sites in the Arctic, but they are either not in use anymore or are temporary installations. NASA has the ability to launch rockets from mobile launchers, which have been deployed in Greenland and Svalbard. Fort Churchill in Canada on the coast of Hudson Bay had been an active launch site from 1954 to the mid-1980s. See also Arctic Observatories; See also Aurora Australis; See also Aurora Borealis; See also Auroral Substorm Further Reading Andøya Rocket Range. Accessed January 13, ESRANGE Sweden. Accessed January 13, NASA Sounding Rocket Program. Accessed January 13, of 5 3/6/15, 10:24 PM

5 Poker Flat Research Range. Accessed January 13, APA Lummerzheim, D. (2014). Rocket Ranges in the Arctic. In A. J. Hund (Ed.), Antarctica and the Arctic Circle: A Geographic Encyclopedia of the Earth's Polar Regions. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Retrieved from id=a4091c-5112 Select Citation Style: APA Copyright 2009 ABC-CLIO All Rights Reserved. 5 of 5 3/6/15, 10:24 PM