Suborbital flight during the ‘El Coqui’ campaign

The payload-electric field detector was launched on June 6, 1992 on a Terrier-boosted Black Brant VC rocket (NASA 36.064 CE, El Coqui AA-3B) from the Puerto Rico’s North Coast. Peak altitude: 370km. Trajectory plane: within 10° of the magnetic meridian. Investigations were focused on the Chemical Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) program and they encompassed the multi-ion expansion processes, fundamental aspects of ion transport in the magnetotail, stimulated particle precipitation, critical ionization velocity effects, creation of plasma instabilities, and the formation and collapse of diamagnetic cavities.