Overview of the Vibro-Acoustic Launch Protection Experiment at the Air Force Research Laboratory

Experiments demonstrating several vibro-acoustic mitigation technologies will be tested on the Vibro-Acoustic Launch Protection Experiment 2 (VALPE-2) aboard a Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket slated for launch from Wallops Island Flight Facility in May 2003. Flight data collected in November 2002 from a nearly identical launch (VALPE-1) is being used to characterize the fairing environment and design the prototype hardware for the second flight. This paper discusses the various experiments that will be tested on the VALPE-2 flight, and presents some of the measured results and lessons learned from the first flight.