The Rapid Acquisition Imaging Spectrograph Experiment (RAISE) Sounding Rocket Investigation

We present a summary of the solar observing Rapid Acquisition Imaging Spectrograph Experiment (RAISE) sounding rocket program including an overview of the design and calibration of the instrument, flight performance, and preliminary chromospheric results from the successful November 2014 launch of the RAISE instrument. The RAISE sounding rocket payload is the fastest scanning-slit solar ultraviolet imaging spectrograph flown to date. RAISE is designed to observe the dynamics and heating of the solar chromosphere and corona on time scales as short as 100-200 ms, with arcsecond spatial resolution and a velocity sensitivity of 1-2 km/s. Two full spectral passbands over the same one-dimensional spatial field are recorded simultaneously with no scanning of the detectors or grating. The two different spectral bands (first-order 1205-1251 angstrom and 1524-1569 angstrom) are imaged onto two intensified Active Pixel Sensor (APS) detectors whose focal planes are individually adjusted for optimized performance. RAISE reads out the full field of both detectors at 5-10 Hz, recording up to 1800 complete spectra (per detector) in a single 6-min rocket flight. This opens up a new domain of high time resolution spectral imaging and spectroscopy. RAISE is designed to observe small-scale multithermal dynamics in Active Region (AR) and quiet Sun loops, identify the strength, spectrum and location of high frequency waves in the solar atmosphere, and determine the nature of energy release in the chromospheric network.