Student experiments aboard next launch from Wallops Island

NASA's Wallops Flight Facility is scheduled to launch two sounding rockets carrying student-developed experiments for RockSat-X and RockOn/RockSat-C missions on Wednesday.

The launch window for the missions is 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. EDT.

The two sounding rockets, a Terrier-Improved Orion and Terrier-Improved Malemute, will launch five minutes apart and are expected to reach an altitude of about 70 miles (113 kilometers) before descending by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean to be recovered. The launches may be visible in the Chesapeake Bay region.

The rockets will be carrying experiments developed by more than 30 university and community college teams as part of NASA’s RockOn Workshop and RockSat programs. Fifty percent of the RockOn teams are from minority-serving institutions.

In addition to the higher education experiments, 80 experiments will take flight as part of the Cubes in Space program, which partners with Wallops to provide a platform for students aged 11 to 18 to develop and conduct research and science that connects to real-world Earth or space-based problems or needs.

RockSat-X 2023 flight projects:

University of Puerto Rico: The team plans to collect micrometeorite samples from the upper atmosphere and to create an in-depth profile of the atmosphere to deliver environmental context for biosignature detection.

Northwest Nazarene University: This team is testing two robotic arms that could be used to assist astronauts conducting maintenance and repairs during spacewalks.

Red Rocks and Arapahoe Community Colleges of Colorado: These two teams will deploy an extendable arm system equipped with a 360-degree camera to capture video of the rocket, payloads and a view of Earth.

West Virginia Space Collaboration

West Virginia State University: Several experiments will measure acceleration, rotation, velocity, magnetic field, temperature, pressure and radiation levels. Lab-grown Mycelium blocks will be tested for structural integrity and durability during space flight.

West Virginia Wesleyan College: This experiment will control the spin of a gear motor at the same frequency but in the opposite direction of the rocket’s rotation.

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College: The team will create and design an Autonomous Navigational Assistant.

West Virginia University Institute of Technology: Knowing at any moment position, acceleration, and rotation of the rocket

Virginia Tech: This payload will eject FemtoSats away from the payload and investigate communication methods between the FemtoSats, the payload, and the ground. They also plan to improve upon their star-tracking instrument designed by the Virginia Tech 2022 RockSAT-X team.

University of Kentucky: The team is testing a method of ejecting a capsule that will also collect and transmit data during the flight. The capsule ejection method is planned to be used for a future International Space Station mission.