This first round of APEP launches occured during the Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 from White Sands Missile Range, NM. A second round is scheduled for the Total Eclipse on April 8, 2024 from Wallops Island, VA.
The APEP rockets were designed to collect data to answer the following science questions:
Does the eclipse shadow directly seed discernible irregularities in the mid-latitude ionosphere? What are the associated vertical length and time scales of these irregularities?
What are the impacts of the Temperature Gradient Instability (TGI) and Gradient Drift Instability (GDI) in seeding small scale (10s to 100s of meters) ionospheric irregularities in the presence of solar eclipse?
How do the various regions of the ionosphere behave differently at small scales in response to the overall cooling effect of the thermosphere?
(Picture and caption from NASA)
APEP Dartmouth PIP Bob:
APEP Bob Payload:
