National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) Sounding Rockets to study the ionosphere during Solar Eclipses

20 feet

APEP Payload
18.5 feet

Second Stage:
Black Brant
Apogee 346 km at 303.6 sec
Science measurements:
400 Upleg: 180-325 km
April 8, 2024 downleg: 325-70 km
APEP launches 350
300
Altitude, km

Terrier Mk 70
250

14 feet

First Stage:
200
SWARM Deploy 73.0 sec at 108.9 km
150 Payload Separation 63.0 sec at 87.6 km
October 14, 2023 Despin 60.0 sec at 81.0 km
APEP launches 100 Black Brant Burnout 43.5 sec at 43.5 km
Black Brant ignition 16 sec at 8.1 km
50
Terrier burnout 6.2 sec at 3.1 km

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Time, sec
www.nasa.gov
Sounding rockets are well suited to study the dynamics The Ionosphere and APEP science assets, such as GPS and satellite based communications, we
of Earth’s ionosphere and a unique opportunity to do so is need to understand and consequently model all perturbations
The ionosphere is a region of the Earth’s atmosphere between
presented by the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 and irregularities in the ionosphere.
90 and 500 km altitude, where solar radiation ionizes gases,
when three Black Brant IX sounding rockets will be launched
i.e. strips molecules and atoms of their electrons, creating
from White Sands Missile Range, NM to study the ionosphere Recent studies, especially after the 2017 great American
ions and free electrons. This state of matter is called plasma.
before, during, and after the peak eclipse. eclipse, have shown that physical processes perturbed by an
The ionosphere is affected by Earth’s gravity, earth’s magnetic
eclipse extend well beyond the path of totality into the penum-
field, the solar wind, the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF),
Three additional rockets, with similar instrumentation, will bra and appear across vast geographical expanse and disrupt
solar flares, terrestrial weather and various other processes,
be launched from Wallops Island, VA during the Total Solar communication paths.
and is a very dynamic environment.
Eclipse on April 8, 2024.
Ripples and disturbances and irregularities in the ionosphere
Eclipses present a unique opportunity to study the effects of
The mission is called Atmospheric Perturbations around happen horizontally as well as vertically. Rockets are the best
a supersonic cooling shadow of the Moon as it moves across
Eclipse Path or APEP. The acronym was chosen because way to look at the vertical dimension at the smallest possible
the ionosphere and its effect on the structure and energetics
Apep is also the name of the serpent god from ancient Egyp- spatial scales. Ground based remote sensing assets, such
of the ionosphere-thermosphere system.
tian cosmology, who pursued the sun god Ra and every so as ionosondes and Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR), can also
often nearly consumed him, resulting in an eclipse. An eclipse is a rapid sunset and sunrise in the span of roughly be used but do not offer the small spatial resolution of rocket
90-120 minutes while the rest of the surrounding ionosphere based instruments. They can be targeted for the right moment
The APEP payloads is still under full sunlight. Launching the rockets and instru- and go where satellites can’t and they measure at scales that
ments during a solar eclipse allows scientists to study the ground based remote sensing assets can’t.
APEP will detect changes in the ionosphere using instruments ionosphere during a simulated day/night cycle, where night-
such as Langmuir probes, electric field probes, magnetom- time conditions are created by the Moon eclipsing the Sun The Investigators
eters, ionization gauges, and accelerometers. Simultaneous and altering the radiation environment.
multipoint measurements will be achieved by ejecting four in- The Principal Investigator for
strumented deployables from each payload. Springs are used The first rocket, launched approximately 35 minutes before APEP is Dr. A. Barjatya from
to deploy the ejectables at a velocity of 3 m/s and they will the local peak eclipse measures the ionosphere as the eclipse Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
take data for about 7 to 8 minutes. This allows taking mea- is starting. The second rocket is launched during the peak University. Co-Investigator
surements in a larger volume of space. eclipse period when the ionosphere has the maximum shield- institutions include Air Force
ing from solar radiation. Approximately 35 minutes after the Research Labs, Dartmouth
eclipse, when solar radiation again reaches the ionosphere, College, Massachusetts
the third rocket is launched. Institute of Technology, and
University of Colorado-
An eclipse creates waves in the ionosphere as the supersonic Boulder.
cooling shadow races across the ionosphere. The situation
gets further complicated because most of the time there are
already existing waves in the ionosphere due to terrestrial ABOUT THE IMAGES
weather or an ongoing space weather event, such as a flare 1. Payload integration activity. Payload is
1. 3. 6. being prepared for pre-flight testing.
hitting Earth, especially during the ongoing Solar Max. Visual-
2. Paths of the 2023 and 2024 eclipses.
ize this as a motorboat racing across a disturbed ocean which 4. Visit: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/
APEP main payload model with subpay-
already has waves and tides. 2. eclipses/home/
loads deploying. 5. 3. Annular Eclipse May 20, 2012. Credits:
Three of these, built by Embry-Riddle,
measure plasma density, neutral density Scientists want to understand how the ionosphere responds NASA/Bill Dunford
and magnetic field. The fourth, built by 4. Graphic of the Ionosphere and Earth’s atmosphere. Credit:
to all these disturbance activities because all satellite com-
Dartmouth, measures plasma density
John Emmert/Naval Research Lab
munications go through the ionosphere before they reach 5. Sounding Rocket flight profile for the APEP rockets.
and ion temperature.
Earth. And as society gets more dependent on space based 6. Terrier-Black Brant Sounding Rocket with APEP payload.