Function Sounding rocket Country of origin United States Launch sites LC-2, Wallops Island | Manufacturer NSROC Status Active Total launches 2 | |
The Mesquito is a new sounding rocket vehicle developed for the NASA Sounding Rocket Program on Wallops Island, Virginia. The "skeeter" (from similarity of name to mosquito) was developed to provide rocket-borne measurements of the mesospheric region of the upper atmosphere. An area of great science interest is in the 82–95 km region, where the conventional understanding of atmospherics physics is being challenged.
The skeeter is a two-stage sounding rocket using a 9-inch-diameter (230 mm) solid propellant rocket motor as the first-stage propulsion device. The non-propulsive second-stage dart contains a free-flying structural body that includes an avionics suite and an experiment space with interface.
NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) engineers and technicians are the developers and designers of the sounding rocket. The maiden flight occurred on 6 May 2008, from LC-2 at the Wallops Flight Facility.