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MONDARO - Measuring of neutral-gas density in the atmosphere by rocket

This project is contucted by students from the University of Rostock in the framework of the Rexus-Project (Rocket-EXperiments for University Students) funded by the DLR and the students are supported by the IAP.

The MONDARO experiment comprises three identical Pirani gauges mounted on the same ram deck of the payload. One gauge is positioned on the symmetry axis of the payload and the other two sensors have to be mounted symmetrically behind the shock front. Pirani is a sensor that utilizes the thermal conductivity principle for gas density measurements. The measurements of the central gauge will yield the first high-resolution density measurements using a costeffective rocket-borne instrument. Then the measured densities of the neutral atmosphere have to be integrated assuming hydrostatic equilibrium to yield temperature altitude-profiles.

The aerodynamical correction factors have to be applied to the density which is measured inside the gauges because a shock front arises due to the high speed of the sounding rocket and influences the results. For the central sensor placed on the symmetry axis of the payload, these factors have to be calculated using the direct simulation Monte Carlo technique (DSMC). Comparison of the measurements made by the central sensor with the side-mounted ones will yield experimental ram correction factors for such hardware configuration. These experimental ram correction factors can further be compared with the factors calculated using the DSMC.

The student pages for this project

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