Latest news with #AWESOME
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A NASA Experiment Just Supercharged the Northern Lights in Alaska—See Photos
Just when you thought the northern lights couldn't get any more stunning, along comes NASA to crank that dial to an 11. The space agency blasted three sounding rockets above central and northern Alaska during an auroral substorm to study how these substorms impact the Earth's atmosphere. The project, catchily named Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events (AWESOME), was led by researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). In the first display on March 25, the research team fired a 42-foot rocket over central Alaska and a 70-foot rocket over the Arctic Ocean. Both rockets released their payloads—think ion guages, magnetometers, and vapor chasers; the latter released colorful puffs of gas—during an auroral substorm. The result: a light show producing beautiful blue and purple dashes against a backdrop of green and pink auroras. A third rocket, launched on March 29, created a much different light show thanks to a faulty payload valve. Instead of dotting the sky, there was a stunning double-ring that hung in the night sky in gradients of bright white. 'That ring was spectacular. It was extremely bright and absolutely unmissable,' Mark Conde, a space physics professor at UAF, said in a release. 'Anyone who was outside at the time and looked up would have been treated to a visually, stunning and appealing display in the sky.' Despite the last rocket's beautiful error, the data gathered by the mission was deemed a success. The team will study the results to better understand the dynamics of auroral activity in the upper atmosphere and its potential impact on the orbits of satellite-based devices, like GPS. "These launches are a great accomplishment in the effort to continue to research the impact of auroras and potentially improve space weather forecasting," Aly Mendoza-Hill, a program executive at NASA, said. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA launches rockets into auroras, creating breathtaking lights in Alaskan skies (photos)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Two NASA rockets launched into auroras over Alaska last week to study the impact that these geomagnetic light shows have on Earth's upper atmosphere, and the results were gorgeous. The experiment, called Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events, or AWESOME, is led by researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Two of three planned sounding rockets launched from the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the early morning hours on March 25. As the two rockets flew high into auroras, they released puffs of gas known as vapor tracers that created colorful light shows visible across much of northern Alaska. The movements of these vapor tracers can be recorded and studied from the ground used to measure atmospheric winds and flows of charged particles in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere, according to NASA. "I'm extremely pleased that we were able to get the conditions to line up to allow us to launch and to conduct the experiment," Mark Conde, lead researcher from the Geophysical Institute and UAF space physics professor, said in a statement. "I am absolutely delighted." The first sounding rocket to launch for the experiment was a 42-foot Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket. Shortly after, a 70-foot, four-stage Black Brant XII rocket launched. The sounding rockets released vapor tracers and pressure sensors at different heights across central and northern Alaska during a sudden auroral substorm, which is a sudden, brief, and explosive intensification, or brightening, of an aurora. The Malemute rocket also measured magnetic perturbations caused by the aurora. The small free-flying instruments released during the experiment will help gauge how the energy and momentum injected into Earth's middle and lower thermosphere by auroral substorms may disrupt its stability. Understanding the interaction between Earth's upper atmosphere and auroras — which are caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere — can, in turn, help improve space weather forecasting. During the launch, UAF student and staff researchers were located at ground stations in Utqiagvik, Kaktovik, Toolik Lake, Eagle, Venetie, and Poker Flat in Alaska, allowing project scientists to get many different views of the experiment. "Because we had the two-stage rockets deploying over central Alaska and the four-stage rocket deploying off the north coast of Alaska, we essentially were conducting two independent tracer experiments at the same time," Conde said in the statement. "And because the camera locations we needed were completely different for each of those rockets, we needed many camera sites to be clear at the same time." RELATED STORIES: — NASA rockets seed artificial clouds below glowing auroras in Norway (photo) — SpaceX, NASA to launch 1st mission to study aurora 'electrojets' in Earth's atmosphere — NASA wants to launch rockets into northern lights to study 'black auroras' The launch of the third rocket — a two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute — was delayed due to an issue with the motor that needed to be assessed for repair. The team is investigating a minor anomaly in a wiring harness for one of the motor stages and hopes to launch the third rocket before April 6, when the experiment's launch window closes, according to the statement. The third rocket is expected to launch additional tracers, which must be released during dawn hours so that sunlight shining in the upper altitudes can activate the vapor tracers while it is still dark enough on the ground for cameras to photograph their response to air movement.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Strange lights appear in Alaska's night sky during AWESOME aurora experiment
FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Any aurora chasers in Alaska likely did a double take this week when they witnessed some human-made additions to the dazzling Northern Lights overhead when teams launched two NASA-sounding rockets straight into the glowing sky above. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is in the midst of a busy launch campaign at the Poker Flats Research Range north of Fairbanks. The campaign includes three Nasa sounding rockets aimed at improving space weather research and prediction as part of an experiment called Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events, or AWESOME. Two of those rockets were launched Tuesday. The plan was to launch all three within a three-hour window, but NASA said one of the rockets malfunctioned and needed repair. The rockets deployed tracer payloads that were then tracked on the ground by about a dozen UAF researchers and students at ground stations across the interior and northern Alaska. Here is what they saw: The pink, blue and white tracers released by the second rocket were deployed during an aurora substorm. According to UAF, this is a period of "intense brightening caused by the sudden release of energy stored in the elongated tail of Earth's magnetosphere." Why Northern Lights Displays Are Stronger Around Spring, Autumn Equinoxes UAF said the tracers were widely visible across central and northern Alaska. "Because we had the two-stage rockets deploying over central Alaska and the four-stage rocket deploying off the north coast of Alaska, we essentially were conducting two independent tracer experiments at the same time," UAF space physics professor Mark Conde said in an update. "And because the camera locations we needed were completely different for each of those rockets, we needed many camera sites to be clear at the same time." UAF researchers said what they learn from the AWESOME study could help improve space weather forecasting. Tuesday's double launch happened during a Geomagnetic Storm Watch issued by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center because of a solar feature known as a coronal hole high-speed stream sending charged particles toward Earth, and creating powerful Northern Lights seen farther south than normal. The third NASA sounding rocket for the AWESOME experiment could launch sometime before the range's launch window closes on April article source: Strange lights appear in Alaska's night sky during AWESOME aurora experiment
Forbes
27-03-2025
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Just Shot Rockets At The Northern Lights. This Is What Happened
Two NASA rockets launched from Alaska on March 25, 2025, lit up the night sky with strange blue lights and white vapor trails to the backdrop of the Northern Lights. The spectacular display was visible across central and northern Alaska. Vaper tracers light up the atmosphere over the Arctic Ocean as seen from Utqiagvik, Alaska, early on ... More March 25, 2025. Two of three planned sounding rockets launched from the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the pre-dawn hours to study a sudden auroral substorm. It came days after NASA announced that scientists were on standby. The results could help scientists figure out what happens to Earth's upper atmosphere during auroral substorms and improve the forecasting of space weather. The first to launch was a 42-foot Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket launching late in the daily window, which released a payload about 50 and 110 miles up and measured magnetic perturbations caused by the aurora. It also measured pressure fluctuations, as reported by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Shortly after, a 70-foot, four-stage Black Brant XII rocket launched to release a payload of pink, blue and white vapor tracers at four different heights over central Alaska. UAF student and staff researchers were at ground stations in Utqiagvik, Kaktovik, Toolik Lake, Eagle, Venetie, and Poker Flat in Alaska. It was part of an experiment, dubbed Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events, or AWESOME, to help scientists figure out how they affect Earth's thermosphere — an upper layer of its atmosphere close to where it ceases to be. The thermosphere is between 50-350 miles (80-560 kilometers) above Earth's surface. The experiment was an attempt to reveal whether the energy and momentum injected into the middle and lower thermosphere by auroral substorms may upset its stability. 'Change in composition of the atmosphere has consequences for communication, navigation and spacecraft operations,' said Mark Conde at the Geophysical Institute and UAF College of Natural Science and Mathematics before the launch. 'Our experiment will allow forecasters to use simpler and potentially more accurate methods of space weather prediction.' Tracers can be seen overhead at Poker Flat Research Range following the launch of the first rocket ... More of the AWESOME sounding rocket mission on March 25, 2025. The experiment was supposed to have all three rockets launch within about a three-hour window. 'NASA's Wallops Flight Facility team reported a successful launch of the first two rockets on March 25, 2025,' read NASA's update. 'An issue with the Malemute motor on the third rocket was identified and will continue to be assessed for repair.' Poker Flat, 20 miles north of Fairbanks, is operated under a contract with NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, part of the Goddard Space Flight Center. The timing of the experiment is no accident. Although scientists were on standby to launch the rockets when an auroral substorm erupted, they were confident that would happen. That's because in the few weeks after an equinox — which occured last week — Earth's magnetic field is favorably aligned to the solar wind. The sun is also at solar maximum, the peak of the roughly 11 years Solar Cycle, during whihc magnetic activity is at its most intense, and aurora at its most frequent. The colors of the aurora depends on the altitude. At 50 and 110 miles, the most common aurora color is green, which occurs at altitudes of around 60 to 190 miles (100 to 300 kilometers). Red auroras are more common, above 150 miles (240 kilometers). Both are produced by oxygen molecules.
