6 days ago
SpaceX set to launch NASA TRACERS mission
July 22 (UPI) -- NASA's TRACERS mission is set to launch on Tuesday on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from California.
The TRACERS mission aims to "help understand magnetic reconnection and its effects in Earth's atmosphere."
The mission's launch window opens at 11:13 a.m. PDT with a 57-minute window from the Vandenberg Space Force Base's Space Launch Complex 4 East.
"About eight minutes after liftoff, Falcon 9's first stage will land on SpaceX's Landing Zone 4 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California," said a release from SpaceX. "There is the possibility that residents of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties may hear one or more sonic booms during the landing, but what residents experience will depend on weather and other conditions."
NASA will also send three payloads, the Athena EPIC, the Polylingual Experimental Terminal and the Relativistic Electron Atmospheric Loss with the mission.
There is also a backup opportunity for the launch on Wednesday at the same time.
