Project PoSSUM, an acronym for Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere, is the aeronomy program within the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences, a 501(c)(3) non-profit international research program. PoSSUM employs commercial spacecraft, aircraft, and high-altitude balloons to study rare 'space clouds' called noctilucent clouds. These elusive clouds can help scientists address critical questions about the Earth’s climate, but they can only be seen from polar latitudes during a small window of time in the summer. Noctilucent clouds are of keen interest to climatologists because their increasing presence is widely believed to be attributable to increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane in the mesosphere. Further, these clouds offer a prominent observable that can help address questions pertaining to reentry vehicles and of low-density atmospheres on other planets through techniques of comparative planetology.This manual is intended for the student or professional interested in human spaceflight and how it may be applied to upper-atmospheric research. This manual provides an overview of Project PoSSUM, an introduction to the mesosphere and noctilucent cloud science, remote sensing, suborbital cinematography and imagery systems, spaceflight physiology and hypoxia awareness, life support systems and spacesuit operations, fundamental solar mechanics, and PoSSUM mission planning and simulation techniques.
