CREX-2 Sounding Rocket In-Situ Observations

The Cusp Region Experiment-2 (CREX-2) sounding rocket mission launched from Andoya Space Center on December 1, 2021, and flew into the thermospheric footprint of Earth’s northern geomagnetic cusp. The science motivation for CREX-2 was to investigate the anomalous mass density enhancements that have been observed in this region at around 400 km altitude. Releases of barium/strontium and trimethyl aluminum tracer clouds were used to track the region’s neutral winds. The rocket payload also carried a suite of in-situ plasma instruments including: Petite-Ion-Probes (PIPs) for ion density and thermal ion temperature measurements, Miniature Plasma Imager (MPI) instrument for plasma drift velocity measurements (3D), the Electron Plasma Instrument (EPLAS) for auroral electron precipitation measurements, the Electron Retarding Potential Analyzer (ERPA) for thermal electron temperature measurements, and a three-axis scientific fluxgate magnetometer. This poster will present an overview of the data obtained from each in-situ instrument during the CREX-2 mission, and an initial assessment of whether any of these observations indicate signatures of possible processes contributing to the force balance needed to sustain the enhanced mass density.