Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC              October 20, 1995
(Phone:  202/358-1547)

Keith Koehler
Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA
(Phone:  804/824-1579)


RELEASE:  95-187

NASA ROCKETS TO BE LAUNCHED IN AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK

       A series of NASA sounding rocket experiments will 
begin today from the Australian Outback to study the Large 
Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the closest galaxy next to our own 
Milky Way.

       Six sounding rocket experiments are scheduled for 
launch from the Woomera Instrumented Range in South 
Australia through November, carrying instruments to gather 
information on hot gases, stars, interstellar gas and dust 
particles, which are the basic building blocks of planets 
in our neighboring galaxy.  In addition, the 10-minute 
rocket flights, from 150 to 200 miles altitude, will 
provide invaluable information on new detection 
technologies which are being incorporated into astronomy 
satellites.

       The astronomical objects will be viewed by 
telescopes in the ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths of 
light.  The experiments in this campaign are from Penn 
State University, University of Wisconsin, University of 
Colorado, and Johns Hopkins University.

       The flights are being conducted in Australia since 
the LMC can only be viewed from the Southern Hemisphere.  
The launches will be conducted by personnel from the NASA 
Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility, 
Wallops Island, VA.
 
      All of the experiments will fly on the two-stage 
Black Brant IX sounding rocket.  Experiments will descend 
by parachute and be recovered.  One experiment will be 
refurbished at the Woomera range for reflight about a week 
after it is recovered.


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       This will be NASA's first Australian sounding rocket 
campaign since 1987/88 when the Agency conducted six rocket 
experiments to study an exploding star, Supernova 1987a.

       The NASA Sounding Rocket Program is managed by the 
Wallops Flight Facility for the Office of Space Science, 
NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC. Approximately 30 
sounding rocket missions are conducted annually from sites 
world-wide.

                        - end -


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