ISRO Launches Sounding Rocket RH-560, To Study Neutral Winds
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the sounding rocket (RH-560) to study attitudinal variations in the neutral winds and plasma dynamics carried out on Friday at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota Range (SHAR).
“Launch of sounding rocket (RH-560) to study attitudinal variations in the neutral winds and plasma dynamics carried out today at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota,” tweeted the official account of ISRO.
As per ISRO, sounding rockets are one or two-stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.
“They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites…ISRO started launching indigenously made sounding rockets from 1965 and experience gained was of immense value in the mastering of solid propellant technology,” said ISRO.
WHAT ARE SOUNDING ROCKETS
Sounding rockets are one or two stage solid propellant rockets used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research. They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites. With the establishment of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1963 at Thumba, a location close to the magnetic equator, there was a quantum jump in the scope for aeronomy and atmospheric sciences in India. The launch of the first sounding rocket from Thumba near Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala on 21 November 1963, marked the beginning of the Indian Space Programme . Sounding rockets made it possible to probe the atmosphere in situ using rocket-borne instrumentation. The first rockets were two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure). While the M-100 could carry a payload of 70 kg to an altitude of 85 km, the Centaure was capable of reaching 150 km with a payload of approximately 30 kg.
