Launch of the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) is currently targeted for no earlier than July 17, 1990, at 3:41 p.m. EDT. Scheduled to be placed into a highly elliptical, geosynchronous transfer orbit of approximately 217 by 22,236 miles, CRRES is to conduct complex scientific research in what is referred to as "Earthspace" -- the space environment just above Earth's atmosphere which, far from being empty, includes the ionosphere and magnetosphere containing a dynamic ocean of invisible magnetic and electrical fields and particles.
Much as a high school physics student spreads iron filings around a magnet to "see" its invisible magnetic field, CRRES will carry 24 canisters of various chemicals into orbit and release the chemicals over a period of time. When released, the chemicals will be ionized by the Sun's ultraviolet light creating large luminous clouds that will elongate along Earth's magnetic field lines, briefly "painting" these invisible structures.
By observing the motion of the clouds, scientists will be able to measure electric fields in space and "see" how they interact with charged particles to form waves and to better understand how the Earth extracts energy from the solar wind. The luminous clouds also will be studied from the ground, from specially equipped aircraft and from CRRES itself. The CRRES releases will be augmented by chemical releases from 10 sounding rockets launched from Puerto Rico and the Marshall Islands.
Under a launch services contract between NASA and General Dynamics, launch of the joint NASA/U.S. Air Force payload is to take place from Complex 36B, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard an Atlas I (Atlas/Centaur-69) launch vehicle.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.; the U.S. Air Force Space Systems Division, Los Angeles; and Ball Aerospace Systems Group, Boulder, Colo. -- prime comtractor of CRRES -- are principal spacecraft participants in the upcoming mission. Atlas I launch services, with technical oversight by NASA's Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, and Kennedy Space Center, Fla., will be provided by General Dynamics Space Systems Division, San Diego, Calif. The Lewis Research Center manages the NASA-General Dynamics launch services contract and is responsible for launch vehicle/spacecraft integration activities.
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