著者

鮎川 勝 平沢 威男 国分 征 大瀬 正美 Masaru AYUKAWA Takeo HIRASAWA Susumu KOKUBUN Masami OSE

雑誌

南極資料 (ISSN:00857289)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.52, pp.1-42, 1975-03

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The rocket launching facilities were inaugurated in 1969 and completed in 1971 at Syowa Station (60°00'S, 39° 35'E: geomagnetic lat. 69.6°S, long. 77.1°E). In the rocket range, about 500 m south-west of the main base: of Syowa, there are three buildings, namely a propellant magazine (10.4×6.Om), a radar-telemeter hut (14.4×6m) and an assembly shop (12×7.6m) connected with a turntable. A turntable (8 m in diameter) in the center of the launching platform is at the same level as the floor of the assembly shop. A rocket carriage can be moved on rails from the assembly shop onto the launching turntable. Rotation of the turntable and movement of the launcher are remote-controlled. An iron-grating box covered with a vinyl sheet is attached to the launcher for keeping the rocket warm. The box is air-conditioned. The rocket is assembled and tested in the assembly shop and transferred to the turntable. The whole launching system is capable of firing a rocket with a diameter up to 350 mm. A radar-telemeter system and the igniter and timer controlers are installed in the radar-telemeter hut. A radar-tracking system with a power of 10 kW is used to measure the azimuth angle, the elevation angle, and the direct range, as well as to record telemeter signals in two channels transmitted by PPM modulation. The receiving frequency of the telemeter system is 290 MHz and the data in 12 channels is recorded. The control system consists of an ignition controller, a timer controller, and a probe controller. These control systems were designed to be operated by a limited number of technicians. There are two types of single-stage sounding rockets, S-160JA and S-210 JA. Their specifications are as follows: [table] Butadiene solid propellant is used from the viewpoint of low temperaturecharacteristics. There is another type of rocket which will be used in the future; S-310JA type (payload 40kg, peak altitude 220km). These rockets were developed by the Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, University of Tokyo. In order to fire the rockets at the moment when auroral activities begin to show a drastic increase at the onset of an auroral substorm, some considerations were needed in the procedure of the firings in the Antarctic severe natural environment. As a result of many considerations and trainings, the rocket could be fired within one minute after the receiving of the introduction in the rocket launching. The ground-based observations were consolidated at Syowa Station, assisting the direct measurements of physical quantities in auroras by means of the sounding rockets. The instruments to be used in the auroral observations are: all-sky camera (35mm, every 10s), auroral zenith photometer (4278 A), multicolour geomagnetic meridian scanning photometers (4278, 5577, 6300 A, H_β), high sensitive TV camera and VHP auroral radar. It was 10th February 1970 when the first launching of the sounding rocket was carried out at Syowa. Since then, four S-160JA type and nineteen S-210JA type rockets were flown during the period of the research program in 1970-1973. Objects of measurements were electron and ion densities, electric and magnetic fields, infrared and ultra-violet emissions, energetic paticles, X-rays and radiowave in aurora. Through the successful rocket flights, the significant information to reveal the physical nature of auroras was obtained. The present paper mainly reports on the progress of the research program by means of sounding rockets at Syowa Station in 1970-1973 concerning the transportation, the construction and maintenance of the launching facilities, arrangements of the rocket firing and tracking and the obtained results of the rocket flights. During the period of International Magnetospheric Study (IMS, 1976-1979), the rocket facilities will be reopened and more than twenty sounding rockets (S-310JA and S-210JA) are scheduled to be launched from Syowa Station.