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The effect of temperature on shuttle glow

Nature volume 323, pages 519–522 (1986)Cite this article

Abstract

The glow on ram surfaces of the space shuttle has been reported from a series of photographic observations made during several orbiter missions1–13. These measurements have shown that the spectrum of the glow is a continuum7,13, has a spectral peak at 680 nm4,7, and the brightness decreases with altitude5. The spectrum has been tentatively identified as the nitrogen dioxide continuum and follows the interaction of adsorbed nitric oxide with ramming atmospheric oxygen7–9. One recent observation of the ram glow displayed an unusually low intensity10,13. Further investigation has led us to discover that the main difference between this, and earlier measurements was the spacecraft attitude which in turn significantly influenced the temperature of the ram surfaces observed. In this paper the variation of the glow brightness among several different shuttle flights is re-examined and it is shown that a major contributing factor to glow brightness is probably the temperature of the rammed surface. The derived temperature dependence is also consistent with the Atmospheric Explorer-C satellite ‘red’ glow intensity data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratories, 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, California, 94304, USA

    G. R. Swenson, S. B. Mende & E. J. Llewellyn

  2. Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

    E. J. Llewellyn

Authors
  1. G. R. Swenson
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  2. S. B. Mende
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  3. E. J. Llewellyn
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Swenson, G., Mende, S. & Llewellyn, E. The effect of temperature on shuttle glow. Nature 323, 519–522 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/323519a0

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