NASA to Relaunch Rocket From Wallops Flight Facility After Cancelling Flight for the Fourth Time

After scrubbing the event for the fourth time, NASA is planning to launch its KiNet-X experiment.

The KiNETic-scale energy and momentum transport eXperiment mission will investigate how energy and momentum are transferred through magnetically bound space areas.

(Photo : Bill Ingalls/NASA/Getty Images)
A NASA rocket mission

The launch attempt for the space agency's fifth mission has been set for 8:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 11 in the evening if the weather permits.

Due to NASA's 40-minute launch window, the Black Brant XII suborbital rocket is scheduled to launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia could launch as late as 8:45 p.m.

NASA Cancelled The Launch For Four Days Straight Due To Weather

NASA's previous launch attempts on May 7, 8, 9, and 10 were all canceled due to bad weather, specifically "upper-level winds exceeding the necessary limits for a safe launch."

Before a rocket is launched, NASA specifies a set of weather conditions that must be met. There should be no precipitation in the flight route, temperatures above 31 degrees for 24 hours, no lightning within five nautical miles, and weak upper level winds.

The Press of Atlantic City said winds have been blowing at 300 millibars (30,000 feet) with speeds of 50 to 70 knots for the past few days. According to forecast computer model guidance, winds will be much stronger Tuesday night, with gusts of up to 100 knots possible.

Here's What To Expect During the Launch

NASA estimates that the rocket will be between 217 and 249 miles above the Atlantic Ocean, 540-560 miles downrange from Wallops and just north of Bermuda 10 minutes after launch.

For around 30 seconds, it will release barium vapor, which will form two small yet clear clouds that appear green and violet at first.

The vapor can turn violet when it ionizes due to exposure to sunlight, making it more difficult to see against the darkening sky.

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The light display would likely resemble aurora lights "on a very small scale," according to NASA. But "it is an uncertain part of this experiment."

NASA said the lights can be apparent to the naked eye in Bermuda and parts of the United States spanning the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River.

You can also watch the launch at Wallops live online via a live stream on the IBM video website.

What Is This All About

The mission's goal is to collect data that will aid NASA in understanding how energy and momentum are transmitted between magnetically linked regions of space, which the agency defines as a "very fundamental issue."

The mission's KiNET-X has been likened to a miniature version of Io, Jupiter's third-largest moon and the most volcanically active planet in our solar system.

"The interaction between Io's atmosphere and Jupiter's space environment leads to an Io-induced auroral spot in Jupiter's atmosphere," NASA said in a statement uploaded on their website.

"We know the power generated by Io's interaction, and we know the auroral power from the spot, but how are energy and momentum transported along the connecting magnetic field line?" said Peter Delamere, the KiNET-X principal investigator, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in the same statement from NASA.

The barium vapor released by the Black Brant XII rocket would not be harmful to the atmosphere or public health, according to NASA, who compared it to the substances used in fireworks.

Since the human eye does not see violet colors very well in darkness, the agency said the clouds from this launch would be more difficult to see than those from previous flights.

The rocket is part of a project to investigate space-based energy transport.

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