Far-ultraviolet stellar occultation measurements of the upper atmosphere

We describe the analysis methods of the stellar occultation measurement technique, and present preliminary results of upper atmospheric measurements with Princeton University's Interstellar Medium Absorption Profile Spectrometer (IMAPS), which was flown on two Shuttle AstroSPAS missions. The primary objective of IMAPS was to study the interstellar medium, but it also made observations of some hot stars as they were occulted by Earth's upper atmosphere. These observations provided the first detailed measurements of upper atmospheric O and N2 by the stellar occultation method. We also present a conceptual design for a follow-on instrument, dedicated to stellar occultation measurements of the upper atmosphere, the Global Upper Atmospheric Neutral Density from Stellar Occultations investigation.

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