Lighting the Sky

ATREX, the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment successfully launched five suborbital sounding rockets in the early morning hours of March 27, 2012, from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia as part of a study of the upper level jet stream. The first rocket launched at 4:58 a.m. EDT and each subsequent rocket launched 80 seconds apart.

Each of the rockets released a chemical tracer that created milky, white clouds at the edge of space. The launches and clouds were reported to be seen from as far south as Wilmington, N.C., west to Charlestown, W. Va., and north to Buffalo, N.Y.

The mission will gather information that will assist researchers to better understand the process responsible for the high-altitude jet stream located 60 to 65 miles above the surface of the Earth.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Hosts Teleconference on Upcoming Launch of Five Rockets

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington

Keith Koehler                                   

Wallops Flight Facility, Va.                                   

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 7, to discuss the upcoming launch of five rockets in slightly more than five minutes from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket launches will be visible from most of the local coastline. The launch window begins March 14 and runs through April 4.

The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) mission will gather data to help scientists better understand the high-altitude jet stream winds located 60-65 miles above Earth's surface. This region can cause electrical turbulence adversely affecting satellite and radio communications.

The experiment will use a chemical tracer released from each rocket to help observe the winds. The tracers may be visible to the public along the mid-Atlantic region and possibly the northeastern United States.

Participants are:

-- Miguel Larsen, ATREX principal investigator at Clemson University
-- Jack Vieira, ATREX project manager at Wallops Flight Facility

To participate in the media teleconference, journalists must contact Keith Koehler at 757-824-1579 or keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov by 3 p.m., Tuesday, March 6.

Audio of the event will be streamed live at http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio.

Related images and video will be posted at the time of the teleconference at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html.

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