CAMEO (Chemically Active Material Ejected in Orbit) was a piggy-back experiment included in the
Nimbus-G launch by the
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC emp ...
. The primary objective of the investigation was to study the
magnetosphere
In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo ...
-
ionosphere interactions by observing the dynamics of neutral (
barium
Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in group 2 and is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal. Because of its high chemical reactivity, barium is never found in nature as a free element.
...
) and
ion (
lithium
Lithium (from el, λίθος, lithos, lit=stone) is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a soft, silvery-white alkali metal. Under standard conditions, it is the least dense metal and the least dense solid ...
) clouds released at orbital velocities near the earth. It had a mass of approximately 89 kg and consisted basically of batteries, of one lithium and four barium gas canisters. The CAMEO unit remained attached to the second stage of the Delta vehicle. This was the first opportunity to observe the behavior of conventional barium release when conducted at orbital velocity in the
near-earth magnetic field.
Method
This investigation consisted of a sequential release of four successive
thermite
Thermite () is a pyrotechnic composition of metal powder and metal oxide. When ignited by heat or chemical reaction, thermite undergoes an exothermic reduction-oxidation (redox) reaction. Most varieties are not explosive, but can create br ...
barium canisters and a single long-duration lithium release from the orbiting second stage of the Nimbus 7 Delta launch vehicle. The barium releases occurred October 29, 1978, along a track north of
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...
(79N to 74N) and was observed by many ground stations and was tracked from release at around 950 km out to about 5 earth radii during a one-hour period. The lithium release lasted for 50 seconds over southern
Sweden on November 6, 1978. Observations of the neutral and ion clouds were observed optically by various ground sites.
The principal unexpected characteristic in the release dynamics was the high, 1.4 to 2.6 km/s, initial Ba expansion velocity relative to an expected velocity of 0.9 km/s. Attention was also given to neutral cloud expansion, initial ion cloud expansion, convective motion, and the characteristics of field-aligned motion. The possibility of measuring parallel electric fields over the polar cap by observing perturbations in the motion of the visible ions was assessed.
Conspiracy theories surrounding CAMEO
Because of the lack of thorough documentation and the appearance in a declassifie
documentby the
GAO, CAMEO has been clumped in with the
chemtrails
The chemtrail conspiracy theory is the erroneous belief that long-lasting condensation trails are "chemtrails" consisting of chemical or biological agents left in the sky by high-flying aircraft, sprayed for nefarious purposes undisclosed to t ...
and
HAARP conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a neg ...
.
CAMEO Characteristics
{, class="wikitable"
, +SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK: VOLUME III, PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 1969-1978
[{{cite web , title=SP-4012 NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOK: VOLUME III PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS 1969-1978 - table3.91 , url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol3/table3.91.htm , website=history.nasa.gov , accessdate=2019-07-08]
, Also called:
, Chemically Active Material Ejection in Orbit
, -
, Date of launch (range):
, Oct. 24, 1978 (WTR)
, -
, Launch vehicle:
, Delta 2910, launched with
Nimbus 7
, -
, Responsible NASA Center:
,
GSFC
, -
, Project manager:
, Ronald K. Browning
, -
, Project scientist:
, James P. Heppner
, -
, Objectives:
, Trace the complexities of the flow of ionized particles in and above earth's ionosphere by observing the flow of released barium.
, -
, Results:
, The contents of four canisters of barium, attached to the second stage of the Delta 2910 launch vehicle, were ejected 950 km above Alaska on Oct. 29, 1978. The contents of one canister of lithium were ejected over Scandinavia on Nov. 6 (in both cases the canisters stayed attached to the Delta stage). The resulting clouds were successfully observed, providing the investigators with information on the movements of electrified natural particles.
See also
CRRES (Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite-program)
Magnetosphere
In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo ...
(esp. Artificial Comets, to understand why Barium and Lithium were used in CAMEO)
Aurora
An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...
References
Explorers Program
1978 in spaceflight