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Two rockets were successfully launched from Poker Flat Research Range at 12:50 and 1:09 a.m. Tuesday as part of a UAF Geophysical Institute-lead experiment to study winds in the upper atmosphere related to the aurora.

The mission, known as the Horizontal E-region Experiment or HEX project, differed from other launches at Poker Flat since one of the rockets was designed to tip on its side in mid-flight. NASA scientists were interested in the project because the tilting of the rocket’s trajectory was unprecedented.

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Poker Flat Research Range has extended its rocket season with a third launch window. The addition will give two rocket missions designed to study the aurora more time to perform their experiments. From March 19 through April 7, scientists will look for the optimal weather and aurora conditions to launch six rockets.

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Live audio coverage of Poker Flat Research Range’s rocket launch countdown is now available to the public via the Internet. For the remainder of the 2003 launch season, near real-time audio coverage including broadcasts of each of the six remaining launches can be accessed by visiting http://carrot.pfrr.alaska.edu/poker.

Rocket scientists from the UAF Geophysical Institute will join veteran Astronaut and NASA Chief Scientist Shannon Lucid for a series of live interactions for students from Poker Flat Research Range on February 22 and March 1.

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Four rockets are scheduled to launch in rapid succession from Poker Flat Research Range when the weather is clear and calm and aurora conditions are suitable between February 22 and March 10 as part of a mission to study high-latitude heating during an auroral substorm event.

Two of the rockets in the JOULE experiment each will carry instruments to measure light and small-scale electrical currents in the upper atmosphere.

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A sub-orbital sounding rocket was successfully launched this morning, at 12:39 AM, from Poker Flat Research Range. The rocket, a Black Brant XII, captured measurements to deduce characteristics about the processes that create the aurora. The project is called the Rocket Auroral Correlator Experiment (RACE).

After waiting more than six weeks for the optimal weather and auroral conditions to occur, scientists successfully launched four rockets within six minutes from Poker Flat Research Range early Thursday morning.

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In a series of three flights through restricted airspace in Puget Sound, WA, the University of Alaska’s unmanned aircraft system proved its value to science once again. 

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FAIRBANKS, Alaska—Logging more than 18 hours of flight time in six separate flights, the Geophysical Institute’s unmanned aircraft system completed its first scheduled campaign of the year in the Stewart Creek Impact Area near Eielson Air Force Base June 21 to 24, 2007. During the flights, the UAS collected 30 color images per second of about 43 square miles of terrain. Soon, the images will be pieced together and analyzed by the U.S. Army Alaska Garrison to map wildfire fuels growing in the Stewart Creek Impact Area.

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Whether it’s monitoring the migration of marine mammals in the Beaufort Sea, or mapping summer wildfires that flare up in Alaska’s Interior, opportunities abound for unmanned aircraft in the Arctic.