Experimentation using the Mir station as a space laboratory

Abstract

Collaboration is now underway to perform space-based experiments on the interactions of rocket plume exhausts and the ambient environment at an altitude of roughly 350 km. The key element in this experiment is the use of the Mir space station as a platform for optical instrumentation. A description is given of the modeling and instrumentation involved in the execution of this experiment, as well as a description of the experiment strategy and some experimental data already obtained. In particular, a hypothesized model of the OH(A-X) ultraviolet radiation is presented and evaluated. * The research reported herein was performed by the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), Air Force Materiel Command. Work and analysis for this research were performed by personnel of Sverdrup Technology, Inc., AEDC Group, technical services contractor for AEDC. Further reproduction is authorized to satisfy needs of the U. S. Government.

Studying of Atomic and Molecular Interaction Processes in Rarified Hypervelocity Expanding Flows by Methods of Emissive Spectroscopy

“…Measurements of absolute intensity and spatial distribution of this radiation provide valuable data for studying of the collision characteristics. It should be noted that such kind of glow was observed yet earlier both from the US Shuttles 1 and Russian "Mir" space station 2 . Essential difference between the glow observations from the Shuttles and "Mir" was that Shuttle instruments looked at the plumes of the LP motors installed on the Shuttle itself, whereas "Mir" instruments observed the plumes of Russian space vehicles "Soyuz" and "Progress" located at a distance of 10 to 60 kilometers away from the station.…”

“…Some description of the instruments and their characteristics may be found in Ref. 2,3,7,27 . During the years of operation the instruments were modified and somewhat improved.…”

“…The UV-imager was an ICCD based device that included F/1 aperture telescope followed by image intensifier with solar-blind Cs 2 Te photocathode. A relay lens transferred image from the output screen of the image intensifier onto a conventional CCD camera.…”

“…Also, studying of the Shuttle UV-glow has been limited by the NH(A→X) emission, whereas "Mir" experiments were aimed mainly to understanding of the nature and specific features of the OH(A→X) emission i . Analysis of the plume images obtained on board of the "Mir" station since 1993 resulted in an idea that OH(A→X) emissions must be one of the main contributor to the UV-glow radiation intensity measured by the imager 2,3,4,5 . Strong NH(A→X) radiation observed in the Shuttle plume 1 was supposed to be filtered off by the imager.…”

Analysis and observation of spacecraft plume/ionosphere interactions during maneuvers of the space shuttle

“…This interaction can alter the local ionospheric properties and lead to excitation of plasma waves. Studies of such interactions, both experimental and computational, have been centralized around LEO transportation spacecraft, including Space Shuttle, Soyuz, Progress, and the Mir space station [e.g., Burke et al, 1995;McMahon et al, 1983;Karabadzhak et al, 1997;Drakes and Swann, 1999;Kaplan and Bernhardt, 2010;Bernhardt et al, 2012].…”