出典:Wiktionary
sounding rocket (複数形 sounding rockets)
出典:Wikipedia
出典:『Wikipedia』 (2011/07/20 03:35 UTC 版)
A sounding rocket, sometimes called a research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The origin of the term comes from nautical vocabulary, where to sound is to throw a weighted line from a ship into the water, to gauge the water's depth. Sounding in the rocket context is equivalent to taking a measurement.