NASA's rocket launch mission is set to see Black Brant XII lift off from its Virginia-based Wallops Flight Facility, which, according to the said space agency, might provide a short light show for people who live in the eastern United States and Bermuda, recent reports said.
A Newsweek report said, that a NASA mission to find out more about the manner energy is being transported through magnet field lines has been delayed and rescheduled from Friday to Saturday evening (May 8).
The rocket is not as large as those used to launch huge satellites or astronauts into space. This four-stage space vehicle is a sounding rocket type, which is particularly designed to perform scientific experimentations in sub-orbital flight.
On Thursday, the Wallops facility of NASA tweeted the said rocket launch had been moved to a new schedule which is "no earlier than Saturday, May 8, at 8:02 pm EDT." It also tweeted that camera stations installed and set up to view the rocket during the launch were searching for clear skies.
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KiNet-X Mission
The said rocket mission is called KiNet-X. It is developed and designed to examine a problem that researchers have found with plasmas in space, which is how energy is transferred through magnetic field lines.
One example can be seen in colorful auroras of Earth, which are generated when charged particles coming from the Sun, also called solar wind, are interacting with the magnetic field of the planet.
Such particles are traveling along lines in the magnetic field prior to interaction with the atmosphere close to the poles, which is what is producing the color.
According to professor of space physics, Peter Delamere at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, who's also principal investigator of this rocket statement, the electrons in the space environment of Earth and in the solar wind have comparatively low levels of energies. However, added to the principal investigator, the aurora is produced by very high energy electrons.
200-Mile Altitude Over the Atlantic Ocean
To investigate such a process, the KiNet-X mission is launching to an altitude of more than 200 miles over the Atlantic Ocean, where it will emit a cloud of barium vapor, which NASA has emphasized, is not hazardous to the environment, neither to public health.
The barium vapor, as specified in a related MSN News report, will then ionize, become charged electrically, when it is exposed to sunlight, and take on a purple color.
This ionized vapor will then turn out to be tied to the magnetic field lines of the Earth and stretch out, taking on the short trails' appearance, instead of a cloud.
The scientific tools based on the ground, as well as those in an aircraft, will observe the interactions and enable people to measure the flow of energy to the electrons, explained Delamere.
According to NASA, the vapor trails will be more challenging to see compared to, similar launches that have been performed in the past since "it will be dark."
A related report is shown on WBNS 10TV's YouTube Video below:
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