High Above Down Under | Episode 4: The Final Test

Narration: Miles Hatfield

Transcript:

In the previous episode, we learned that to find planets that can support life, we have to understand the stars that host them – especially the ultraviolet light those stars emit.

But to see that ultraviolet light, we have to get above our own atmosphere.

And the fastest way to do that is to launch a rocket.

We’re here in Australia and we’re going to launch some rockets.

We’re following two NASA rocket missions as they try to understand how stars make the planets around them suitable for life.

I’m Miles Hatfield, and in this episode we’re going to see what it takes to get a sounding rocket into space.

If you ask me, sounding rockets are NASA’s true MVPs.

Their name comes from the nautical term “to sound,” meaning to measure.

No astronauts here – these rockets specialize in carrying scientific instruments.

They take short flights, spending just a few minutes in space before falling back to the ground for recovery.

Scientists can then relaunch the same instruments again, and again, and again, adapting them to new purposes.

It makes sounding rocket missions far less expensive than other alternatives – and a lot faster to develop too.

Many scientific “firsts” are achieved with sounding rockets because of their quick turnaround time.

In fact, the two missions we’re following, SISTINE and DEUCE, are breaking their own scientific ground:

The ultraviolet light they measure could reveal whether Sun-like stars throughout our galaxy are capable of supporting habitable planets.

To get their instruments to space, they’re relying on the experts from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, who operate over 20 sounding rocket launches each year from locations all around the world.

Still, no matter how many launches you have under your belt, there’s one wildcard that can undo even the best laid plans.

Brittany Empson: “Roughly an hour and 15 minutes before launch, we start doing balloons every 15 minutes and that’s giving us those low-level winds.

The closer we are to the surface, the more sensitive the rocket is to the impact of the winds.”

For NASA’s range and launcher teams, getting into space is only half the battle. These low-level winds will also affect where the rocket lands.

Brittany Empson: “It’s a suborbital rocket, so we go up and we come down.

I’m required to keep the rocket within the hazard area because that’s what we alert the public to stay out of and we clear it and that’s kind of the box we have to play in.

You know, we’re trying to aim a point that’s downrange this way, we may have to point over here so that when the winds go up, it’ll come up and impact there.”

Miles Hatfield: “I see.”

Using computer simulations, the launch team has figured out exactly how much wind the rocket can take without risking being blown off course.

As launch approaches, Brittany keeps a close eye on the real-time wind measurements to be sure they stay within an acceptable range.

Brittany Empson: “But it gets really exciting in the final two minutes. You will see me and Mike with our eyes glued to that monitor and my finger on the button for my comms.”

Miles Hatfield: “OK.”

Brittany Empson: “You know, we’re the ultimate safety authority – it’s our judgment call if the winds are trending out or if that was just a random data point and we can proceed.”

Once the rocket is in the air, a whole slew of internal systems need to kick into high gear.

I caught up with the SISTINE science team as they were running the final sequence tests simulating everything that will happen during the flight.

Nick Kruczek: “We simulate starting about 10 minutes before launch itself, and we run through all of the steps you would, exactly as you would.”

And the countdown clock has started.

Nick Kruczek: “90-seconds here, where we’re about to hit T-minus 90, is my favorite part on launch night. Which is where they’re polling for the final ‘GO.’”

Miles Hatfield: “Chk chk, go. Da da da, go.”

Nick Kruczek: “Where they’re running through all the major subsystems and making sure that everything looks correct now, because this is the last chance to say that there’s a problem before we’re just assuming we’re rolling into launch.”

Miles Hatfield: “Yeah.”

Offscreen: “5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”

Nick Kruczek: “First stage would’ve ignited first – and it’s already burned out by six seconds.

And then our Black Brant starts, which is the second stage.

As you’re launching you want to be spun up, but then you want to stop that spin once you’re observing.”

Miles Hatfield: “What would happen if you guys didn’t stop spinning?”

Nick Kruczek: “Um, it would probably be catastrophic.”

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!

Nick Kruczek: “Then we prepare for the shutter door to open.”

Miles Hatfield: “Cool. There it is!”

Nick Kruczek: “So, the shutter door opens.

Towards the center there, this black camera is our star tracker. And so that right now is figuring out where it is in the sky, and then driving us over towards our target.

There you can see our big primary mirror.

And then this sort of “X” structure you see up front is holding our secondary mirrors, so the second optic in our telescope.

And now, we’re hopefully celebrating or talking about whatever went wrong at the same time.”

Miles Hatfield: “Haha, yeah.”

Once the payload has been fully tested and confirmed ready for flight, they bring it down from the payload assembly building to the launch rail, where it will be connected to the motors.

This is the last place this experiment will sit on land before it launches into space.

As night falls over the Arnhem Space Center, it’s time to hope for good weather.

If all goes well, we’ll soon be high above it.

Next time: the thing you’ve all been waiting for.

Offscreen: “5, 4, 3, 2, blastoff.”

It’s going to get pretty loud.