WALLOPS ISLAND, VA – Two suborbital rockets were successfully launched 15 seconds apart this morning from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility as part of a study of electrical currents in the ionosphere.

The launch of the Black Brant V at 10:31:25 a.m. and the Terrier-Improved Orion at 10:31:40 were part of the Daytime Dynamo experiment, a joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

The project is designed to study a global electrical current called the dynamo, which sweeps through the ionosphere. The first rocket carried a payload that collected data on the neutral and charged particles in the ionosphere. The second rocket released a long trail of lithium gas to track how the upper atmospheric wind varies with altitude. These winds are believed to be the drivers of the dynamo currents.

The next scheduled launch from Wallops is Terrier-Improved Malemute carrying experiments developed by students in the RockSat-X program. The launch is currently scheduled between 6 and 10 a.m., August 13.

More information on the NASA sounding rocket program and the Daytime Dynamo experiment can be found on the web at: www.nasa.gov/soundingrockets

Credit: NASA/Wallops/Thom Rogers and Terry Zaperach

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NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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