Poker Flats Schedules Rocket Launches

Rocket launches this month from the Poker Flats Research Range in Alaska will allow scientists to study auroral behavior and energy input, officials said.

The five NASA rockets were scheduled to be launched every Wednesday night in January, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, said in a news release. The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, operates the range through a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Marc Lessard of the University of New Hampshire is the principal investigator of the first study that will send a large sounding rocket through pulsating aurora north of Fairbanks. He said not much is known about pulsating aurora, which essentially blinks on and off several second at a time unlike the sweeping bands usually observed.

The second campaign involves four sounding rockets that will allow scientists to examine energy input into the atmosphere, said Miguel Larsen is a professor at Clemson University and principal investigator.

Two more campaigns, with five additional rockets, are scheduled to launch in February.