Earth's main magnetic field to 152 kilometers above Fort Churchill

In conjunction with the IGY rocket program of the Ballistic Research Laboratories, proton precession magnetometers [Heppner, 1958] have been flown in Nike-Cajun rockets at Fort Churchill, Canada, under magnetically quiet and disturbed conditions in the daytime. This letter is a report on the quiet-field measurements. Rocket instrumentation included the precession magnetometers, DOVAP tracking and telemetry system [Berning, 1954, pp. 70-72], flux-gate aspect magnetometers, and a transistor-switch commutator. Pertinent data concerning Fort Churchill and the rocket flights areFort Churchill dataGeographic latitude 58.8°NGeographic longitude 94.2°WMagnetic latitude 69°Dip 84°IGY-OB6.16 rocket flight dataFiring date Nov. 30, 1958Firing time 1627 CST (2227 UT)Peak altitude 152 kmPeak time 190 secRange to impact 48 kmImpact azimuth 37° E of NSpin rate 0.4 rps