Clemson Rocket Launches Test Alaskan Auroras

SOLAR SCIENCE

The chemical trail from the horizontal rocket. The rockets carried chemical tracer experiments from Larsen and instruments from Clemson assistant physics professor Gerald Lehmacher. At 60 miles above the ground, the chemical tracer glows and can be tracked as it is carried by winds high up in the atmosphere. The instruments measured the changes in atmospheric pressure created by the heat.

by Staff Writers
Clemson SC (SPX) Mar 21, 2007
It may have been 40 degrees below zero at the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, but aurora and weather came together one recent winter night in a perfect match for Clemson University researchers and students who launched four rockets to study heat in the upper atmosphere.

Four 30- to 40-foot-long NASA suborbital sounding rockets were launched into the night sky within a period of 16 minutes as part of the HEX 2 project, a collaborative effort between the University of Alaska at Fairbanks and Clemson.

"We had absolutely ideal conditions for the launches," said Clemson physics professor Miguel Larsen. "We are interested in the auroral displays because they produce electrical currents that heat the atmosphere. Wind patterns become altered as the atmosphere heats up, and this can cause changes in satellite orbits and interference with radio communications."

The rockets carried chemical tracer experiments from Larsen and instruments from Clemson assistant physics professor Gerald Lehmacher. At 60 miles above the ground, the chemical tracer glows and can be tracked as it is carried by winds high up in the atmosphere. The instruments measured the changes in atmospheric pressure created by the heat.

The rocket range is located 30 miles north of Fairbanks. The data will be analyzed to yield a three-dimensional picture of the neutral winds and density changes that occur during auroral disturbances.

Twelve undergraduate and four graduate students from Clemson participated in the NASA-funded study.

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

SOLAR SCIENCE

Themis Satellites Put Berkeley Physicist In Pole Position To Study Aurora Like Never Before

Cape Canaveral CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2007
After a picture-perfect launch into clear, blue skies at 6:01 p.m. EST Saturday, Feb. 17, the five THEMIS probes are healthy and in their expected orbits, according to University of California, Berkeley, physicist and mission principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos. "Based on telemetry received by UC Berkeley's ground station, they look really good," he said.

AEROSPACE Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming Raytheon Team Proposes Single International Standard In ADS-B Pursuit NASA Signs Defense Department Agreement Lockheed Martin And FAA Reach Significant Milestone In Transformation Of Flight Services	CAR TECH Toyota Anticipates Sharp Increase In Its Hybrid Sales New Nanoscale Engineering Breakthrough Points To Hydrogen-Powered Vehicles Geneva Show Hints At Green Fuel Jumble For Motorists Students Enter Competition To Produce A Zero-Emissions Snowmobile
MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS Northrop Grumman Adds Boeing To Its Integrated Air And Missile Defense Battle Command System Team Boeing TSAT Laser Communications System Demonstrates Mission-Level Capabilities And Performance QinetiQ Completes Urgent Satellite Communications System Order For MOD Helicopters Harris Gets Follow-On Production Contract For Military Tactical Communications System	MISSILE DEFENSE United States, Poland Hold Missile Shield Talks US Missile Plans Accelerate Defence Shield Debate At NATO Czech Villagers Vote Against US Anti-Missile Defence Shield Russia To Put Missile Defense Elements In Embassies
FARM NEWS Agrifood Giant Nearly Rivals Carmakers On Emissions Spanish Strawberries Causing Environmental Catastrophe Crops Feel The Heat As The World Warms Anti-GM Stunt Targets France's Sarkozy	DISASTER MANAGEMENT Birth And Rebirth In New Orleans Airmen Upgrading Giant Voice Systems In England Indonesia Allots One Billion Dollars To Prevent Floods Relief Flows Into Indonesia Quake Area As Death Toll Revised Down
TECH SPACE Saab Space To Supply Antennas For New Generation Direct-To-Mobile Satellites Virtual Reality For Virtual Eternity Boeing Orbital Express to Demonstrate New On-Orbit Servicing Capability Top 10 Materials Moments In History Announced	ROBO SPACE Students Rack Up Wins At Local Robotics Competition Talking Bots Novel Salamander Robot Crawls Its Way Up The Evolutionary Ladder Look Ma, No Hands, No Humans

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement