Press Releases
A suitcase-size camera designed 20 years ago is still ahead of the game when it comes to capturing the beautiful colors and fluid motion of the aurora. Technology moves at a phenomenal rate, yet the camera designed with the aid of employees at the Geophysical Institute continues to outshine any competitors with its extreme low-light sensitivity. This special camera is the crux of the Aurora Color Television Project (ACTP), which has provided true-to-life images of the aurora to audiences around the world for two decades. 
Public tours will resume at Poker Flat Research Range in August. The public is invited to tour portions of the lower-range with guides from the Geophysical Institute Information and Education Outreach Office. Tours are scheduled for Aug. 5, and Aug. 19. The tours will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Public tours of Poker Flat Research Range are cancelled throughout the month of July. Fire crews continue to work on hot spots located on the upper-range and the surrounding area. For safety reasons, tours are suspended until further notice.
Staff from Poker Flat Research Range helped secure crucial imagery of wildfires raging through Alaska, including those in their own backyard.
Altair, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) equipped with extensive imaging capabilities, provided real-time information on fire locations, fire movement, and previously unidentified hot spots on a mission flown July 9. Poker Flat Research Range staff initiated this effort and provided airspace planning and mission support for the flight.
A surveillance RADAR facility and two Connex storage containers at Poker Flat Research Range were lost to the Boundary Fire on June 30, 2004. The surveillance RADAR facility was used to detect small aircraft in the range's flight zone before launching sounding rockets. A replacement value for it, and the two storage containers, has not yet been determined.
NASA Administrator Honorable Sean O’Keefe made a special trip to Poker Flat Research Range Thursday to visit the NASA supported facility.
O’Keefe reports directly to the President of the United States as the leader of the NASA team and manager of the agency’s resources. NASA General Counsel Paul Pastorek accompanied O’Keefe and the two were given an extensive tour of the facility by Range Manager Greg Walker, and Associate Director Hans Nielsen.
Poker Flat Research Range retrieved remnants from a rocket Saturday that had been launched March 27 as part of a four-rocket experiment to study winds in the upper atmosphere. The retrieved rocket did not thrust properly during its flight, causing it to fall short of its predicted altitude and land in a different part of the designated impact area than expected. It was found 5.8 miles north of the range in the special land use designated area for rocket booster impact. NASA is interested in studying the rocket’s remains to better understand the cause of the thrust failure.
A series of four rockets were launched in rapid succession from Poker Flat Research Range at 3:09, 3:10, 3:12 and 3:13 a.m. Thursday as part of a mission to help scientists view wind associated with an aurora from cameras on the ground.
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.
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.
