FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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.

Seven rockets carrying experiments used to study the aurora are scheduled for launch from Poker Flat Research Range this winter. The projects include a group of four rockets launched in rapid succession to measure wind in the upper atmosphere and one rocket that will turn on its side mid-flight, allowing it to pierce a curtain of aurora horizontally.