Update - July 2, 2013 - Daytime Dynamo Mission Scrubbed July 2; Next Attempt July 3

[Richard O'Neill]

Update - July 2, 2013 - Daytime Dynamo Mission Scrubbed July 2;  Next 
Attempt July 3

The launch of two sounding rockets from the Wallops Flight Facility was 
scrubbed on Tuesday, July 2 due to poor weather in the area. The next 
attempt for these two rockets will be Wednesday, July 3, with a window 
of 9:30-11:30 a.m.

The two rockets, a Black Brant V and a Terrier-Improved Orion, will 
launch 15-seconds apart in support of the Daytime Dynamo experiment, 
which is a joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace 
Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

The project is designed to study a global electrical current called the 
dynamo, which sweeps through the ionosphere. The ionosphere stretches 
from about 30 to 600 miles above Earth and plays a crucial role in our 
day-to-day lives. For example, radio waves bounce off it as they travel 
from sender to receiver, and communications signals from satellites 
travel through it as well. A disruption in the ionosphere can disrupt 
these signals.

The first rocket scheduled for launch is a single-stage Black Brant V, 
which will collect data on the neutral and charged particles it travels 
through. The second rocket is a two-stage Terrier-Improved Orion. It 
will shoot out a long trail of lithium gas to track how the upper 
atmospheric wind varies with altitude. These winds are believed to be 
the drivers of the dynamo currents.

Since the launch is during the day, the lithium trails will not be 
highly visible to the naked eye.

The rockets will be visible to residents in the Wallops region. The NASA 
Visitor Center will open at 8 a.m. on launch day for viewing the 
launches. The Wallops USTREAM channel will broadcast the launch live 
beginning at 8:30 a.m. on launch day.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-wallops



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20130702/44c4cfbe/attachment.html>