Viper Dart
The Viper Dart program, first launched in 1996, was an initiative to develop
and miniaturize a small, inexpensive, suborbital payload that could be used
to probe the Earth's upper atmosphere. Viper Dart demonstrates the usefulness
of small sounding rockets. Innovative methods were used to redesign the payload
of a MET rocket, including
the miniaturization of instruments, surface mount components, antenna designs,
and new digital FPGA
designs. This science of miniaturization can be applied to larger payloads,
thereby reducing power and mass requirements.
Programs using the Viper Dart payload include:
- MINRAD - an effort to develop and fly miniaturized
near-infrared radiometers
- DUST - a program to study meteoric dust in the upper
atmosphere
- ICICLE - a study of Noctilucent clouds (NLC) and Polar
Mesospheric Summer Echoes (PMSE)
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SDL's Small Rocket Capabilities