Antarctic Mesospheric Clouds Formed From Space Shuttle Exhaust

• Main Authors: Stevens, Michael H., Meier, R. R., Chu, Xinzhao, DeLand, Matthew T., Plane, John M.
• Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB WASHINGTON DC E O HULBURT CENTER FOR SPACE RESEARCH
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Atmospheric Physics; *ANTARCTIC REGIONS; *EXHAUST PLUMES; *MESOSPHERE; ARCTIC REGIONS; SPACE SHUTTLES; ENGINES; CLOUDS; REPRINTS; POLAR REGIONS; ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES; Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA521896; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA521896

New satellite observations reveal lower thermospheric transport of a space shuttle exhaust plume into the southern hemisphere two days after a January, 2003 launch. A day later, ground-based lidar observations in Antarctica identify iron ablated from the shuttle's main engines. Additional satellite observations of polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) show a burst that constitutes 10-20% of the PMC mass between 65-79 deg S during the 2002-2003 season, comparable to previous results for an Arctic shuttle plume. This shows that shuttle exhaust can be an important global source of both PMC formation and variability. Geophysical Research Letters, v32 n13 p1-5, 16 Jul 2005.