- The RH-300 MKII sounding rocket developed by IRSO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) was successfully launched from Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
- The rocket was launched by VSSC under Sounding Rocket Experiment (SOUREX) Programme for atmospheric studies.
- It utilises this rocket to study Equatorial and lower ionosphere regions of atmosphere.
- The study will enrich available atmospheric data and refine models used for tropical weather prediction.
- The objective of experiment is to measure neutral wind in dynamo region (80-120 km) of equatorial ionosphere using indigenously developed Electron Density and Neutral Wind Probe (ENWi).
- It will also perform cross-validation using an independent Tri Methyl Aluminium (TMA) release technique.
- It was overall 21st launch of RH300 sounding rocket.
- Atmospheric studies with TMA were done in 1960’s utilizing sounding rockets of foreign countries and first it was launched on May 2, 1965 using Centaure rocket. After a long gap, TMA experiment is being conducted now with indigenously made payload and rocket.
Source: Indian Express