Recent sounding rocket highlights and a concept for melding sounding rocket and space shuttle activities

Highlights include launching guided vehicles into the African Solar Eclipse, initiation of development of a Three-Stage Black Brant to explore the dayside polar cusp, large payload Aries Flights at White Sands Missile Range, and an active program with the Orion vehicle family using surplus motors. Sounding rocket philosophy and experience is being applied to the shuttle in a Get Away Special and Experiments of Opportunity Payloads Programs. In addition, an orbit selection and targeting software system to support shuttle pallet mounted experiments is under development.