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Raumfahrt - Wallops: Sunday NASA rocket launch from Va. may be visible in area

11.06.2017

A worker test the rocket at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (Courtesy NASA/Berit Bland)
 

WASHINGTON — Look! Up in the sky. It’s a rocket.

On Sunday night, NASA Wallops Island is scheduled to launch a rocket that will be visible in the DMV. As stated by NASA, “The window for a NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket launch to test a new ampoule ejection system designed to support studies of the ionosphere and aurora opens June 11 and runs through June 18. Lift-off for a June 11 launch is scheduled between 9:04 and 9:19 p.m. EDT.”

The multi-canister ampoule ejection system will release blue-green and red vapor to form artificial clouds between 4 and 5.5 minutes after launch. These blue-green and red artificial clouds may be visible along the mid-Atlantic coastline from New York to North Carolina.

The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will open at 8 p.m. on launch day for viewing the flight. Check NASA’s site for updates.

Quelle: wtop

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Update: 13.06.2017

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NASA launching colorful clouds over the East Coast -- here's how to watch

An artist's impression of the luminescent clouds, which should be visible along the mid-Atlantic coast after a NASA rocket launch. 

 
 NASA

NASA is gearing up to launch a rocket that will create colorful, luminescent clouds that will be visible to skywatchers along the mid-Atlantic coastline. 

The so-called sounding rocket was scheduled to launch Monday night a little after 9 p.m. EDT from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia shore. However, NASA decided at the last minute to postpone due to cloud cover at the observation sites and said it will try again to launch Tuesday night. Four previous launch attempts also had to be scrubbed for various reasons.

A few minutes after the rocket launch takes place, NASA will release ten soda-can-sized canisters containing blue-green and red vapor to form artificial clouds, the space agency explained on its website.

These colorful clouds will allow NASA to visually track particle motions in space. The rocket launch will support deeper studies of the ionosphere -- a zone of the Earth's outer atmosphere -- and aurora, NASA said.

The luminescent clouds should make for a dramatic spectacle for East Coast residents in an area stretching from New York City and parts of Long Island south to the middle of North Carolina.

46-015-hall-visibility-map.jpg
Caption

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.

 NASA

Not in the visibility zone?

You can watch live streaming coverage on the Wallops Ustream site, and follow updates via its Facebook  and Twitter accounts.

Quelle: CBS

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