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This morning, a NASA suborbital sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range into an aurora display over northern Alaska at 3:45 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, allowing researchers to gather more data about the power source behind pulsating auroras.

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A NASA sounding rocket launched at 11:39 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2007 from Poker Flat Research Range during a brilliant aurora display above northern Alaska.

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An experiment called HEX2 that consisted of four NASA suborbital sounding rockets, launched from Poker Flat Research Range during an aurora display over northern Alaska this morning. Each rocket emitted vapor trails in an experiment to learn more about winds associated with the aurora. Researchers saw the vapor trails from Poker Flat; about 30 miles north of Fairbanks, and aurora watchers at clear locations throughout northern Alaska should have been able to see them.

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Scientists from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of New Hampshire have experiments ready on the launch rails at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, and another scientist is waiting in New Hampshire to launch an additional experiment from Poker Flat.

The experiments are being flown on NASA sounding rockets. NASA is launching 10 of the suborbital rockets from Poker Flat during January and February. Four successful launches occurred in January.

A sub-orbital sounding rocket is scheduled to launch in February from Poker Flat Research Range when the weather is clear and aurora conditions are active. The rocket, a Black Brant XII, will capture measurements to deduce characteristics about the processes that create the aurora. The project is called the Rocket Auroral Correlator Experiment (RACE).

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After six nights of waiting for the optimal weather and auroral conditions to occur, the first rocket of the 2003 season was successfully launched from Poker Flat Research Range yesterday at 10:50 p.m. The rocket, a two-stage Terrier-Black Brant IX, captured measurements of high-frequency wave signals related to the aurora as part of the High Bandwidth Auroral Rocket (HIBAR) experiment.

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Poker Flat Research Range will open its 2003 launch season today with a single-rocket mission designed to measure high-frequency wave signals in connection with the aurora. Known as HIBAR, the high bandwidth auroral rocket mission will have until February 8 to get the right weather and auroral conditions to launch a two-stage Terrier-Black Brant IX sounding rocket into the aurora at altitudes where the high-frequency waves form.

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

Fairbanks, Alaska—During a vivid aurora display, a NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range and arced over northern Alaska at 12:49 a.m. Alaska Standard Time on Feb. 16, 2010. The rocket, one of the largest used at Poker Flat, flew high over Kaktovik, gathering data on electric particle and wave interactions in the upper atmosphere.

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

Fairbanks, Alaska—A NASA sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range and flew to an altitude of more than 100 vertical miles at 12:01 a.m. Alaska Standard Time on Feb. 9, 2010. The rocket released 12 vials of trimethyl-aluminum that glowed in colors from orange to blue about 70 miles above northern Alaska.