On January 2019, the sounding rocket G-CHASER launched from Andøya Space Center carrying SSPL’s payload, PAWSS.

The Polar Atmospheric Student Sounding (PAWSS) payload consisted of two instruments, a Lidar system and a radio receiver, that would measure neutral density and total electron content. The motivation for this mission was to identify the physical mechanism behind Polar Mesosphere Winter Echoes PMWEs and to serve as a proof of concept flight demonstration for our new lidar system.

This mission was part of the The Grand Challenge Initiative an international collaboration between the US, Norway and Japan. This mission provided our student with the opportunity to collaboration with international and domestic students as well as renowned scientists in the fields of Atmospheric Science and Space Weather.