NASA set to launch 2 rockets into the northern lights

By Stephanie Pappas published about 3 hours ago

Researchers plan to measure winds, temperatures and densities within the aurora.



The northern lights shine above mountains near Atigun Pass, Dalton Highway, Alaska. (Image credit: Noppawat Tom Charoensinphon/Getty Images)

Researchers plan to launch two rockets into the heart of the northern lights.

The launch window for NASA's Ion-Neutral Coupling during Active Aurora mission opened Wednesday (March 23) and runs through April 1; another window is open from April 3–7. The Wednesday launch was scrubbed due to bad weather.

Led by Clemson University astronomer Stephen Kaeppler, scientists hope to send two rockets loaded with sensing tools into the active aurora borealis. They plan to measure the winds, temperatures and densities of the plasma within the aurora.

The dancing lights of the aurora form when charged particles from space crash into molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere. These collisions boost the energy of the electrons in these atmospheric molecules, causing the electrons to orbit their nuclei at a higher energy state. When the buzz wears off, the electrons drop back down to their original energy state, releasing a photon, or particle of light, as they do so. These photons create the shifting curtains of green, violet and red seen at polar latitudes.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/northern-lights-rocket-launch