Completed, Rocket Missions

TEXUS 53

October 20, 2015
TEXUS 53

The project

The TEXUS project is a sounding rocket program with the primary aim to investigate the properties and behaviour of materials, chemicals and biological substances in a microgravity environment. The TEXUS program gives around six minutes of microgravity.
The TEXUS programme started in 1977 and is carried out at Esrange Space Center jointly by DLR, Airbus Defence&Space, OBH-System (former EADS Astrium and Kayser Threde) and SSC. SSC is responsible for the launch operations. The TEXUS campaigns are sometimes financed by ESA or jointly financed by DLR and ESA.

General information

Launch site Esrange Space Center
Launch date Launched on January 23, 2016

Technical information

Rocket type VSB 30 rocket
Nominal diameter 557 mm
Total Length TEXUS 53 7403 mm
Total weight TEXUS 53 2274 kg
Apogee ~261 km

Experiment modules
TEXUS 53 Payload

Module title Experimenter Remarks
TEM 06-36 FOKUS
Faserlaser-basierter optischer
Kammgenerator unter
Schwerelosigkeit
Fiber laser based
optical frequency
comb under microgravity		 R. Holzwarth
MPQ München		 Re-flight from
TEXUS 51
with modificationKALEXUS provides
optical frequency reference, stabilised to the potassi-um D2 transition
KALEXUS
Kalium Laser Experimente
unter Schwerelosigkeit
Potassium laserexperiments
in microgravity		 A. Peters,
HU Berlin		 New experiment provided
by HU Berlin
TEM
06-33		 HAMPP
Fluoreszenz-basierte Analyse
von Signalmolekülen der
pflanzlichen Schwerkraft-wahrnehmung
Fluorescence-based analysis
of plant signaling chains
involved in resposes to
altered gravitation		 R. Hampp, Universität Tübingen Based on TEM 06-33
from TEXUS 50
with major
modifications
TEM
02-3		 ELLI
Bestimmung der kritischen
Einfangsgeschwindigkeit
von Partikeln bei der
gerichteten Ersatrrung
von Solarsilizium im
Weltall (ParSiWal-2)
Determination of the
critical capture velocity
of particles during
direc-tional solidification.

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