GMAO continues to provide support for ASPIRE
04.16.2018
GMAO once again provided customized forecast support for the launch of a Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket carrying the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment (ASPIRE). ASPIRE 2 was successfully launched at 12:19 p.m. EDT, March 31, 2018, from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. The mission team used data from the GEOS-FP system as a tool for targeting, range safety, and reconstruction for the flight. It also helped determine the exact moment to trigger the deployment of the parachute. ASPIRE is a test parachute for possible future missions to Mars.
The rocket reached an altitude of 50 kilometers in approximately two minutes of flight. The payload is a bullet-nosed cylindrical structure containing a supersonic parachute, the parachute's deployment mechanism, and the test's high-definition instrumentation, including cameras, to record data. The high-altitude deployment of this parachute from a rocket in the Earth's atmosphere simulates the thin Martian atmosphere that will be encountered when descending to the surface of Mars with a science payload. GMAO will continue to support ASPIRE launches every two months for the next year.
