Extreme Science: Launching Sounding Rockets from The Arctic
This winter, our scientists and engineers traveled to the worldās northernmost civilian town to launch rockets equipped with cutting-edge scientific instruments.
This is the beginning of a 14-month-long campaign to study a particular region of Earthās magnetic field ā which means launching near the poles. Whatās it like to launch a science rocket in these extreme conditions?
Our planet is protected by a natural magnetic field that deflects most of the particles that flow out from the Sun ā the solar wind ā away from our atmosphere. But near the north and south poles, two oddities in Earthās magnetic field funnel these solar particles directly into our atmosphere. These regions are the polar cusps, and it turns out theyāre the ideal spot for studying how our atmosphere interacts with space.
The scientists of the Grand Challenge Initiative ā Cusp are using sounding rockets to do their research. Sounding rockets are suborbital rockets that launch to a few hundred miles in altitude, spending a few minutes in space before falling back to Earth. That means sounding rockets can carry sensitive instruments above our atmosphere to study the Sun, other stars and even distant galaxies.
They also fly directly through some of the most interesting regions of Earthās atmosphere, and thatās what scientists are taking advantage of for their Grand Challenge experiments.
One of the ideal rocket ranges for cusp science is in Ny-Ć lesund, Svalbard, off the coast of Norway and within the Arctic circle. Because of its far northward position, each morning Svalbard passes directly under Earthās magnetic cusp.
But launching in this extreme, remote environment puts another set of challenges on the mission teams. These launches need to happen during the winter, when Svalbard experiences 24/7 darkness because of Earthās axial tilt. The launch teams can go months without seeing the Sun.
Like for all rocket launches, the science teams have to wait for the right weather conditions to launch. Because theyāre studying upper atmospheric processes, some of these teams also have to wait for other science conditions, like active auroras. Auroras are created when charged particles collide with Earthās atmosphere ā often triggered by solar storms or changes in the solar wind ā and theyāre related to many of the upper-atmospheric processes that scientists want to study near the magnetic cusp.
But even before launch, the extreme conditions make launching rockets a tricky business ā itās so cold that the rockets must be encased in styrofoam before launch to protect them from the low temperatures and potential precipitation.
When all is finally ready, an alarm sounds throughout the town of Ny-Ć lesund to alert residents to the impending launch. And then itās up, up and away! This photo shows the launch of the twin VISIONS-2 sounding rockets on Dec. 7, 2018 from Ny-Ć lesund.
These rockets are designed to break up during flight ā so after launch comes clean-up. The launch teams track where debris lands so that they can retrieve the pieces later.
The next launch of the Grand Challenge Initiative is AZURE, launching from AndĆøya Space Center in Norway in April 2019.
Ā For even more about what itās like to launch science rockets in extreme conditions, check out one scientistās notes from the field: https://go.nasa.gov/2QzyjR4
For updates on the Grand Challenge Initiative and other sounding rocket flights, visitĀ nasa.gov/soundingrocketsĀ or follow along with NASA Wallops and NASA heliophysics on Twitter and Facebook.
@NASA_WallopsĀ |Ā NASAās Wallops Flight FacilityĀ |Ā @NASASunĀ |Ā NASA Sun Science
