General Information

Serial #

12

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

composite casing/ metal base

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

52.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

11.2 cm

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Upper air pressure, temperature & humidity measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Bendix

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

1960s

Canada

An example of technology used by the Meteorological Service of Canada at rocket ranges in Churchill, Manitoba and Cold Lake, Alberta. This nose cone was obtained from Churchill by the donor. A piece of meteorological equipment from a large collection of meteorological instruments used by the Meteorological Service of Canada (previously Atmospheric Environment Service) and acquired by the CSTM since 1967. MSC is the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating meteorological data and forecasts in Canada. It was founded in 1871 in Toronto where it is still headquartered. The MSC was originally on the University of Toronto downtown campus but moved to Downsview in 1971 on land owned by UofT. The headquarters houses laboratories, research facilities and calibration and instrument maintenance facilities (now largely contracted out).

Function

A conical container which held a radiosonde and attached to a rocket, forming the nose. The radiosonde was released at the rocket's maximum altitude. During descent by parachute, the radiosonde read the temperature and transmitted the data to earth.

Technical

The nose cone and radiosonde would be attached to a small rocket. During preparation for launch, the radiosonde was connected to a battery. The nose cone was placed over the radiosonde package, and the nose cone's ball bearing holes were aligned with the holes in the instrument's plate base; the ball bearings were inserted. The nose cone was placed into the head end of the parachute container, which was in the rocket, and attached by securing the parachute container to the instrument base. The cone was not firmly affixed to the rocket so that when the rocket reached its maximum height and tipped over, the cone fell off and the falling radiosonde package pulled the parachute out of the rocket. The spring antennas would be deployed and the radiosonde would send temperature readings as it fell.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Lettering on a plate attached to the underside of the rocket reads 'RADIOSONDE SET/AN/DMQ-9/ STOCK NO. SERIAL NO. 12/ PART NO. 1147900-2/ THE BENDIX CORPORATION ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DIVISION'/ black lettering stamped on side reads '05-14-11-16-3 B/ 95335 MODIFIED'

Missing

Unknown

Finish

Brown casing/ brushed metal base

Decoration

N/A