Second NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range

By on    Featured, The Arctic and Alaska Science  

Second NASA sounding rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range

The second NASA sounding rocket of the season headed into Earth’s upper atmosphere from Poker Flat Research Range shortly after midnight Thursday, carrying a payload of science instruments. It was the second launch in two nights at the rocket range, owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and operated under a contract with NASA’s Wallops Flight […]

First NASA rocket of season flies high out of Poker Flat Research Range

By on    Featured, Interior Alaska, The Arctic and Alaska Science  

First NASA rocket of season flies high out of Poker Flat Research Range

A two-stage NASA sounding rocket flew skyward shortly after midnight Wednesday carrying science instruments to gather data about the solar wind’s behavior. The experiment, named Dissipation, is aimed at learning how charged solar wind particles dissipate their energy in the high-latitude ionosphere-thermosphere. That region is about 62 to 186 miles above the surface and at latitudes above 65 […]