GMS: Australia Sounding Rocket Campaign Press Kit

The mission graphic for the NASA Sounding Rocket Program 2022 Australia Campaign depicts various components of the project. Around the outside of the graphic the major participants in the campaign are listed – the NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, the University of Colorado, the University of Wisconsin and Equatorial Launch Australia. The center of the graphic denotes the science targets for the three missions – Alpha Centauri A and B and the X-ray background. The three missions will be conducted using two-stage Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rockets, also depicted in the graphic center. The location of the Arnhem Space Center and launch site is noted at the bottom center of the graphic.

A NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket launched from the Arnhem Space Center (ASC) in the Northern Territory of Australia at 10:29 a.m. EDT (11:59 ACST) on June 26, 2022. The rocket carried the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter, or XQC, experiment from the University of Wisconsin.

Photo credit: NASA Wallops/Brian Bonsteel

A NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket launched from the Arnhem Space Center (ASC) in the Northern Territory of Australia at 10:29 a.m. EDT (11:59 ACST) on June 26, 2022. The rocket carried the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter, or XQC, experiment from the University of Wisconsin.

Video credit: NASA Goddard/Mara Johnson-Groh

A Black Brant IX sounding rocket launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility's July 2021 carrying the second Dynamo-2 experiment to study the electrical current in Earth’s ionosphere called the dynamo. Photo Credit: Allison Stancil

A Black Brant IX launched with the ASPIRE payload aboard on March 31, 2018. The payload contained a parachute that was tested and will be used in a future mission to Mars. Photo Credit: Chris Perry

NASA employees attend a pre-mission 'Welcome NASA' event at Parliament House, Darwin NT. Photo Credit: Brian Bonsteel

The Wallops Range telemetry teams work to setup tracking antennas and mobile vans in Australia ahead of the summer 2022 sounding rocket campaign.

NASA employees build a sounding rocket range in Nhulunbuy, NT with the additional efforts from local contractors. Photo Credit: Brian Bonsteel

Technicians work at Wallops on the X-ray Quantum Calorimeter Experiment, or XQC, payload before it ships to Australia. Photo Credit: Berit Bland

Technicians work at Wallops on the Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment, or DEUCE, payload before it ships to Australia. Photo Credit: Berit Bland

Technicians work at Wallops on the Suborbital Imaging Spectrograph for Transition region Irradiance from Nearby Exoplanet host stars, or SISTINE, payload before it ships to Australia. Photo Credit: Berit Bland

A Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket launched August 17, 2016, carrying the RockSat-X educational payload. Video Credit: NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility

A Black Brant IX sounding rocket launched March 31, 2018, carrying the Advanced Supersonic Parachute Inflation Research Experiment (ASPIRE) mission testing a parachute for future missions to Mars. Video Credit: Chris Perry