H2 Excitation Structure on the Sightlines to delta Scorpius and zeta
  Ophiucus - First Results from the Sub-orbital Local Interstellar Cloud
  Experiment
  We present the first science results from the Sub-orbital Local Interstellar
Cloud Experiment (SLICE): moderate resolution 1020-1070A spectroscopy of four
sightlines through the local interstellar medium. High signal-to-noise (S/N)
spectra of eta Uma, alpha Vir, delta Sco, and zeta Oph were obtained during a
21 April 2013 rocket flight. The SLICE observations constrain the density,
molecular photoexcitation rates, and physical conditions present in the
interstellar material towards delta Sco and zeta Oph. Our spectra indicate a
factor of two lower total N(H2) than previously reported for delta Sco, which
we attribute to higher S/N and better scattered light control in the new SLICE
observations. We find N(H2) = 1.5 x 10^{19} cm^{-2} on the delta Sco sightline,
with kinetic and excitation temperatures of 67 and 529 K, respectively, and a
cloud density of n_{H} = 56 cm^{-3}. Our observations of the bulk of the
molecular sightline toward zeta Oph are consistent with previous measurements
(N(H2) ~ 3 x 10^{20} cm^{-2} at T_{01} = 66 K and T_{exc} = 350 K). However, we
detect significantly more rotationally excited H2 towards zeta Oph than
previously observed. We infer a cloud density in the rotationally excited
component of n_{H} ~ 7600 cm^{-3} and suggest that the increased column
densities of excited H2 are a result of the ongoing interaction between zeta
Oph and its environment; also manifest as the prominent mid-IR bowshock
observed by WISE and the presence of vibrationally-excited H2 molecules
observed by HST.
