GRAS Innovation Award 2025 – Innovation in Research Winner

Rocket launches create some of the harshest acoustic conditions ever encountered—sound pressure levels above 180 dB SPL, shock-induced crackle, and frequency content spanning from below 1 Hz to beyond 20 kHz. Measuring these phenomena requires sensors that can survive and remain stable under extraordinary mechanical and thermal stress.

At Brigham Young University, Dr. Kent Gee and his team have relied on GRAS microphones for nearly twenty years to explore and quantify rocket noise for NASA and commercial launch providers. Their work encompasses the Space Launch System, Atlas V, Falcon 9, and SpaceX Starship Super Heavy programs—each demanding different sensor configurations and dynamic-range capabilities.

The research employs combinations of GRAS ¼″ and ½″ microphones—notably GRAS 46AE ¼″ Free-Field and GRAS 40AE ½″ Free-Field types—together with dedicated CCP preamplifiers and precision calibration using GRAS 42AP Sound Calibrator. The small-diaphragm design ensures fast transient response, while the rugged construction provides stability through repeated high-level events.

These measurements have helped characterize rocket plume acoustics, improve predictive launch models, and inform the design of sound-suppression and community-impact systems. GRAS microphones continue to serve as the reference standard in BYU’s rocket-acoustics database—proving their unmatched reliability in one of the world’s most extreme measurement environments.