ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
The Poker Flat Research Range is preparing for the opening of a launch window for a NASA sounding rocket.
The rocket experiment is named VISIONS, which means “Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral atom imaging during a Substorm.”
The rocket will take flight and arc through an active aurora display over northern Alaska.
Scientists have a launch window starting Saturday, Feb. 2. It will run through the 17th.
The VISIONS mission is trying to determine how the aurora heats and slingshots oxygen out of the upper atmosphere.
The fully assembled rocket is longer than a school bus.
The Poker Flat Research Range is located 30 miles north of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway.
