NASA plans to make colorful clouds for studying the ionosphere, aurora
Image: INQUIRER.net stock photo
NASA has scheduled to launch a research rocket, also known as a sounding rocket, into the sky on June 13 and create colored clouds to help with studying the Earth’s ionosphere and the aurora atmospheric phenomenon.
The rocket will be loaded with 10 canisters that encase barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. When released into the atmosphere, these chemicals will form blue-green and red artificial clouds called “vapor tracers.” These will allow scientists on the ground track and study how particles move in space.
The vapor tracers should become visible from New York to North Carolina, and westward to Charlottesville Virginia.
This launch has already been postponed six times due to various reasons such as bad weather and boats in hazard areas. Clear skies are needed for tracking the vapor tracers from NASA’s two delegated ground stations. JB
