The Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) seeks a creative, innovative individual with strong teamwork and leadership skills to serve as Director of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). This will be a permanent civil servant position. + Learn more.
The Wisconsin All-Sky Survey (WASS)
sounding rocket program was a project to map the diffuse X-ray background at
multiple bands between 0.1 and 6 keV by instruments flown on a series of
rocket flights between late 1972 and early 1980.
The two November 1973 flights were launched from Australia’s
Woomera Rocket Range. All other rocket launches were from the White
Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The same payload was used in eight of the
flights, and a smaller version in two of the earlier flights (Dec 1972 and Nov 1973) .
Scan paths for the rocket flights used in the survey, shown in galactic
coordinates. The path for flight 25.045 is shown as a dashed line:
This flight had a malfunctioning attitude control system.
Date
Target (l,b)
Flight No
Date
Target (l,b)
Flight No
8 Dec 1972
168.2, -9.5
13.083
1 Nov 1973
227.9,-56.4
13.103
12 Nov 1973
226.8,-66.6
13.102
20 Jul 1974
64.2,+12.8
13.084
8 Nov 1975
131.8,-29.2
13.049
15 Jan 1977
183.5,+15.3
13.122
25 May 1977
54.0,+41.6
26.061
6 May 1978
52.2,+63.7
13.137
15 Mar 1979
193.7,+50.7
25.045
21 Jan 1980
192.1,+41.4
25.051
Mission Characteristics
Rocket Flights :
Special Features : Sounding Rocket Flight
Energy Range : 0.1–6 keV
Payload :
A gas proportional counter with three-sided anticoincidence, filled with a
90% argon/10% methane mix at ∼1 atm pressure
Honeycomb Collimators gave a 6.5° circular field of view.
Data collection: scanning over a fan-shaped field. Each individual flight
scanned roughly one eighth of the sky.
Science Highlights: First complete all X-ray survey of the diffuse background in seven
different X-ray band.
The Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) seeks a creative, innovative individual with strong teamwork and leadership skills to serve as Director of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC). This will be a permanent civil servant position. + Learn more.