MASER is a sounding rocket that is used in the MASER microgravity research rocket programme, operated by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC). The main customer is the European Space Agency (ESA), particularly the EMIR and ELIPS programmes. MASER stands for "MAterials Science Experiment Rocket".

The launches take place at Esrange in Northern Sweden. Throughout its´ sub-orbital flight, the programme offers 6–7 minutes of microgravity aboard the rocket and full recovery of experimental modules with helicopter immediately after flight.

Missions

Mission Date Launch site Motor Apogee Payload Modules Comments Reference report
MASER 1 1987 Mar 19 Esrange Black Brant 9B 295 km
MASER 2 1988 Feb 29 Esrange Black Brant 9C 318 km
MASER 3 1989 Apr 10 Esrange Black Brant 9C 297 km CIS-1, TEM 06-15 [1]
MASER 4 1990 Mar 29 Esrange Black Brant 9B 317 km CIS-2 [1]
MASER 5 1992 Apr 9 Esrange Black Brant 9 309 km CIS-3 [1]
MASER 6 1993 Nov 4 Esrange Skylark 7 243 km 372 kg 5/ESA Esrange EKMA93-12
MASER 7 1996 May 3 Esrange Skylark 7 252 km 355 kg 4/ESA Esrange EUK113-9616
MASER 8 1999 May 14 Esrange Skylark 7 260 km 334 kg 4/ESA Esrange SUM8251-D18
MASER 9 2002 Mar 16 Esrange Skylark 7 258 km 347 kg 3/ESA Esrange SUM92-S14
MASER 10 2005 May 2 Esrange Skylark 7 252 km 350 kg 4/ESA 441st and final Skylark Esrange SUM1025-S8
MASER 11 2008 May 15 Esrange VSB-30 252 km 383 kg 5/ESA Esrange EUK175-E60
MASER 12 2012 Feb 13 Esrange VSB-30 250 km 390 kg [2]
MASER 13 2015 Dec 1 Esrange VSB-30 260 km 277 kg [3]
MASER 14 2019 Jun 24 Esrange VSB-30 260 km 400 kg MASER 14
MASER 15 2022 Nov 23 Esrange VSB-30 260 km 270 kg

Biological scientific endeavors

As humans subjected to weightlessness or microgravity undergo physiological changes,[4] there is an increasing interest in biological research. Aside from the material science aspect being investigated aboard the MASER13-15 rockets, biological modules aim to fulfill this purpose and elucidate this side of space-related research.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "The sounding rocket programmes". www.esa.int.
  2. ^ "MASER 12". 6 April 2011.
  3. ^ "MASER 13". 9 June 2015.
  4. ^ Stepanek, Jan; Blue, Rebecca S.; Parazynski, Scott (2019-03-14). Longo, Dan L. (ed.). "Space Medicine in the Era of Civilian Spaceflight". New England Journal of Medicine. 380 (11): 1053–1060. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1609012. ISSN 0028-4793. PMID 30865799. S2CID 76667295.
  5. ^ Afshinnekoo, Ebrahim; Scott, Ryan T.; MacKay, Matthew J.; Pariset, Eloise; Cekanaviciute, Egle; Barker, Richard; Gilroy, Simon; Hassane, Duane; Smith, Scott M.; Zwart, Sara R.; Nelman-Gonzalez, Mayra; Crucian, Brian E.; Ponomarev, Sergey A.; Orlov, Oleg I.; Shiba, Dai (November 2020). "Fundamental Biological Features of Spaceflight: Advancing the Field to Enable Deep-Space Exploration". Cell. 183 (5): 1162–1184. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.050. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 8441988. PMID 33242416.


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