A Simple Rocket-borne X-radiation Monitor—Its Scope and Results of an Early Flight

The device described has been developed to provide solar X-ray flux data as a standard measurement in daytime launchings of the British high altitude research rocket, Skylark. This measurement is of particular interest in those rounds primarily concerned with ionospheric studies. It is shown that the scope of an X-ray monitor may quite simply be extended to cover the wide range of intensities occurring with the different degrees of solar activity. In a series of launchings, already begun, data on the variation of short-wavelength solar X-radiation are being accumulated, whilst comparison with concurrent rocket ionospheric studies may add to an understanding of the role of solar X-radiation in this field. The results of a first rocket flight of the monitor, which took place in “quiet” solar conditions in the autumn of 1959, are reported and discussed. The measured X-ray flux of 1–4 × 10[Superscript: −2] erg cm[Superscript: −2] sec[Superscript: −1] in the 8–20 A band is compared with that obtained in a U.S. photon counter rocket measurement at about the same time.