Microwave beam control for the METS will be done using only the computer system with a 4-bit digital phase shifter. The reason is that for both technical and scientific objectives the computer control system can adequately change both the power density and the direction of the microwave. Two optical position-sensitive detectors will be installed to measure the relative distance and direction between the mother and daughter rockets. The computer determines the most suitable direction for the microwave beam from data provided by the position-sensitive detectors and the geomagnetic field detectors. Diagnostic Package The diagnostic package consists of four scientific instruments to observe plasma phenomena excited by the high power microwaves. In order to measure any nonlinear interactions between the high power microwaves and the ionospheric plasma, the instruments measure parameters of the plasma (electron density and temperature) and plama waves in a wide range from very low frequency (VLF) to high frequency (HF). The antennas of the HF, VLF, and impedence probes will be deployed on the top of the daughter section. Experimental Operations The experimental schedule is divided into three phases (see Fig. 7). All the antennas for plasma observation and the microwave receiver except the microwave antenna paddles will be deployed soon after the nose cone covering the instruments is released from the rocket 60 sec. after launch. The paddles while still folded in the payload section will radiate microwaves for an initial test. The paddles will then be deployed at the start of the second phase, which will measure any naturally existing nonlinear plasma wave excitations in the ionosphere. The daughter rocket will remain connected with the mother rocket during the second phase.
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