CONTACT: Ned Rozell, GI information officer, 907-474-7468, nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu

Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska—Scientists launched a NASA sounding rocket at 1:49 a.m. on the morning of Friday, January 28, 2011, achieving their goal of gathering an image of the Whirlpool Galaxy from a rocket that arced about 150 miles above northern Alaska.