Latest news with #Terrier-ImprovedMalemute
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.
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.
