Infra‐red rocket glow: A mechanistic analysis

A two channel infra‐red radiometer observed a contaminating glow at 1.53 µm on the up and down legs of a rocket flight between 90 and 105 km. No contamination was detectable at 1.27 µm nor by broadband uv/visible photodiode photometers. The structures in the glow showed a remarkable similarity with the structures on the simultaneously measured atomic oxygen profile. We have been able to show that the glow can be successfully modelled by I ∞ [O]² v², where v is the rocket speed. This implies that two oxygen atoms arriving on the surface are involved in the production of the emitting species. It is suggested that the oxygen atoms form a molecule which is either radiatively stabilized or undergoes an association/dissociation with a surface adsorbed oxygen molecule.