11:15 AM | *Colorful artificial clouds to light up the Mid-Atlantic skies generated by a NASA/Wallops sounding rocket*
Paul Dorian
Canisters will release a substance that should create a colorful glow in the early morning sky. Photograph: NASA Wallops Flight Facility
UPDATED SCHEDULE
Lift-off is now scheduled for Monday evening, June 12, between 9:04 and 9:19 p.m. EDT.
Overview
NASA is planning to launch a sounding rocket early tomorrow morning from the Wallops Island Facility and it should light up the skies with luminescent clouds. These artificial clouds or vapor tracers will allow scientists on the ground to visually track winds at high altitudes on the order of 100 miles above the Earth's surface. Ground cameras will be stationed at Wallops and in Duck, North Carolina to track the vapor tracers and study the dynamics of the Earth's ionosphere. Clear skies are preferred at both sites, but not required for the launch to take place.
This map shows the projected visibility of the vapor tracers during the May 31 mission. The vapor tracers may be visible from New York to North Carolina and westward to Charlottesville, Virginia. Credits: NASA
Discussion
A two-stage Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket is scheduled to launch between 4:25 and 4:42 AM from the NASA/Wallops Facility. The rocket will be carrying ten canisters about the size of a one-liter drink bottle which will be deployed in the air about 6 to 12 miles away from the 670-pound main payload. The canisters will deploy between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch blue-green and red vapor forming artificial clouds. The vapor tracers are formed through the interaction of barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. The tracers will be released at altitudes 96 to 124 miles high and pose no hazard to residents along the mid-Atlantic coast. The vapor tracers could be visible from New York to North Carolina and as far west as Charlottesville, Virginia. The total flight time is expected to be about 8 minutes and the payload will land in the Atlantic Ocean about 90 miles from Wallops Island and will not be recovered.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian
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