FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Four rockets are scheduled to launch from Poker Flat when aurora conditions are suitable at night or in early morning hours this February.

Three of the rockets will release brilliant blue-green chemical trails to trace wind in the upper atmosphere. The trails are expected to be visible from Fairbanks, North Pole, locations north of the Brooks Range and as far east as the Canadian border.

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.

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

Fairbanks, Alaska—Scientists at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks are preparing to launch two NASA sounding rockets for two experiments. The launch window for both experiments opens on Jan. 26 and extends until Feb. 15.

By Brian Keenan

UAF Geophysical Institute Outreach Office

Fairbanks, Alaska — The days of watching a space shuttle launch into the Florida sky may be numbered, but thanks to funding from the Alaska Space Grant Program, a fortunate few education professionals from Alaska have at least been able to witness the end of the era firsthand.