Sky watchers in the Mid-Atlantic region may see a high-altitude cloud of aluminium particles form tonight as military and university scientists conduct an experiment using a rocket fired from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore. Read more
A rocket experiment launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia will be visible in the D.C. area Tuesday night, weather permitting. The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and the Department of Defence Space Test Program will use a NASA four-stage Black Brant rocket to conduct the experiment named Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE). Using ground based instruments and Earth orbiting spacecraft, scientists will study an artificial noctilucent cloud formed by the exhaust particles of the rocket's fourth stage 62 miles above Earth. The launch is scheduled between 7:30 and 7:57 p.m. EDT. (23:30 and 23:57 GMT, 15th Sept) The backup launch days are Sept. 16 through Sept. 20.
A rocket experiment set to launch Tuesday aims to create artificial clouds at the outermost layers of Earth's atmosphere. The project, called the Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE), plans to trigger cloud formation around the rocket's exhaust particles. The clouds are intended to simulate naturally-occurring phenomena called noctilucent clouds, which are the highest clouds in the atmosphere.