A ROCKET-BORNE, EJECTABLE INSTRUMENT PACKAGE WITH PARACHUTE

摘要

A parachute-borne instrument package for performing measurements in the lower ionosphere between 80 and 40 km altitude has been developed. The parachute probe is a piggy-back on Skylark rockets, and is built into a standard 8 inch body section. It is ejected from the rocket during ascent and broken by a drag parachute to an apogee of about 80 km. From there the instrument package descends on the main parachute. The package is self-contained, carrying its own telemetry system. The weight during descent is 2.6 kg, including the parachute. The effective volume of the instrumentation package is a cylindrical box 11 cm in height, having an inner diameter of 13.5 cm. The total weight of the Skylark bay, containing the parachute package and its ejection mechanism, is 18 kg.