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Australian student, William Reid, is currently on exchange at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. Studying a Bachelor of Mechatronics and Computer Science at the University of Melbourne, his skills will be utilised as part of a team launching a REXUS sounding rocket from Esrange Space Centre in Northern Sweden in March 2012. On board the rocket will be an experiment called RAIN (Rocket deployed Atmospheric probes conducting Independent measurements in Northern Sweden). The main objective of the RAIN experiment is the collection of multi-point aerosol particles from the middle atmosphere to create a detailed aerosol profile of this region.
The experiment has been developed by a group of university students from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Stockholm University in Stockholm, Sweden. RAIN is part of the REXUS/BEXUS program run by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and the Swedish National Space Board (SNSB). The team is in its final months of preparation with experiment delivery in mid-November 2011. The group is diverse, with representatives across seven countries including Sweden, Russia, Iran, Romania, Germany, China, and Australia.
The actual experiment consists of two atmospheric aerosol collectors (Free Falling Units or FFUs) being launched aboard a REXUS rocket at roughly 57km. The FFUs will reach a maximum altitude of 90km. As they fall back to Earth, the FFUs will collect aerosol particles by exposing collection samples across different height ranges. After having exposed all of their collection samples and reaching an altitude of 6km, the FFUs will each deploy a parachute. The FFUs will then fall to a safe landing back on Earth. They will transmit GPS coordinates and beacon signals in order for a helicopter recovery crew to locate them. The probes will then be brought back to the RAIN team, and the exposed collection samples will be analysed using scanning electron microscopy.
The RAIN team is currently engaged in ensuring the experiment functions as it is meant to. Numerous tests are being run to verify several aspects including:
• The FFUs deploy their parachutes properly
• They transmit their landing locations
• They work in the frigid Lapland winter conditions
• They eject from the rocket at the correct speed and orientation.
Due to the harsh conditions the experiment will be exposed to, it is important to ensure the system is tested in similar or worse conditions before the experiment goes ahead.
More information about the rain experiment and the team can be found at www.rainexperiment.se.
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