\nFor over 40 years, NASA's Sounding Rocket Program has provided critical scientific, technical, and educational contributions to the nation's space program and is one of the most robust, versatile, and cost-effective flight programs at NASA.
\n\nSounding rockets carry scientific instruments into space along a parabolic trajectory. Their overall time in space is brief, typically 5-20 minutes, and at lower vehicle speeds for a well-placed scientific experiment. The short time and low vehicle speeds are more than adequate (in some cases they are ideal) to carry out a successful scientific experiments. Furthermore, there are some important regions of space that are too low for satellites and thus sounding rockets provide the only platforms that can carry out measurements in these regions.
\n\nGo to NASA.gov for the latest sounding rocket news.", "items": [], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371325, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371325", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "General", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 503760, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 14628, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14628/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Discovering Earth’s Third Global Energy Field", "description": "High above the Earth’s North and South Poles, a steady stream of particles escapes from our atmosphere into space. Scientists call this mysterious outflow the “polar wind,” and for almost 60 years, spacecraft have been flying through it as scientists have theorized about its cause. The leading theory was that a planet-wide electric field was drawing those particles up into space. But this so-called ambipolar electric field, if it exists, is so weak that all attempts to measure it have failed – until now.In 2022, scientists traveled to Svalbard, a small archipelago in Norway, to launch a rocket in an attempt to measure Earth’s ambipolar electric field for the first time. This was NASA’s Endurance rocketship mission, and this is its story.To learn more, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/science-research/heliophysics/nasa-discovers-long-sought-global-electric-field-on-earth/ || ", "release_date": "2024-08-28T11:30:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-08-28T11:37:52.179001-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 1096850, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014600/a014628/Thumbnail02.jpg", "filename": "Thumbnail02.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Discovering Earth's Third Global Energy FieldWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music credit: \"Atoms in Motion\" by Phillip John Gregory [PRS], “Curious By Nature” by Eddie Saffron [PRS], “Perfect Vibes” by Thomas Gallicani [SACEM], “Natural Response” by Jonathan Elisa [ASCAP] and Sarah Trevino [ASCAP] from Universal Production MusicSound effects: Pixabay", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 410825, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13181, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13181/", "page_type": "Animation", "title": "Sounding Rocket Animations", "description": "A sounding rocket is able to carry science instruments between 30 - 300 miles above Earth's surface. These altitudes are typically too high for science balloons and too low for satellites to access safely making sounding rockets the only platforms that can carry out direct in situ measurements in these regions.This animation is annoted with the altitudes. || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_print.jpg (1024x576) [34.4 KB] || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_searchweb.png (320x180) [42.6 KB] || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_web.png (320x180) [42.6 KB] || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_thm.png (80x40) [3.8 KB] || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.webm (3840x2160) [11.0 MB] || 13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.mov (3840x2160) [3.9 GB] || ", "release_date": "2019-05-09T17:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:58.010812-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 396471, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013181/13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "13181_SoundingRocket_TEXT_Prores.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A sounding rocket is able to carry science instruments between 30 - 300 miles above Earth's surface. These altitudes are typically too high for science balloons and too low for satellites to access safely making sounding rockets the only platforms that can carry out direct in situ measurements in these regions.This animation is annoted with the altitudes. ", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 410826, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10924, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10924/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Terrier-improved Malemute Animations", "description": "Animations of the Terrier-improved malemute type sounding rocket. || ", "release_date": "2012-03-07T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:13.794025-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 478355, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010924/Ascent0220.jpg", "filename": "Ascent0220.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Rocket ascending into space passes by the camera.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 410827, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13438, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13438/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Sounding Rockets Show: Cutting-edge Science, 15 Minutes at a Time", "description": "Some of the smallest and lightest rockets in NASA’s lineup have made some of the biggest impacts on science. With a flight time of just about 15 minutes before falling back to Earth, sounding rockets collect unique observations on everything from our planet’s atmosphere to the Sun and even distant galaxies.Join us live to hear from scientists who have traveled to the ends of the Earth to launch sounding rockets, flown cutting-edge instruments on these suborbital flights, and used sounding rockets to make brand-new scientific discoveries.Watch on Facebook or YouTube. || ", "release_date": "2019-11-18T04:30:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:31.416810-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 390570, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013400/a013438/YOUTUBE_720_13438_Sounding_Rockets_youtube_720.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "YOUTUBE_720_13438_Sounding_Rockets_youtube_720.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA YouTube channel.Watch this video on the NASA Sun Science Facebook page.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371326, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371326", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "High Above Down Under", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410828, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410829, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410830, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410831, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410832, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410833, "type": "media_group", "extra_data": null, "title": "High Above Down Under Series", "caption": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "instance": { "id": 857111, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014300/a014362/High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "filename": "High-Above-Trailer-thumbnail3_searchweb.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Around a different star, Earth may never have developed life at all. So what makes a star friendly to life? We joined two rocket teams as they traveled to the remote Northern Territory of Australia to capture light from our closest stellar neighbors to help reveal the answer. Follow their journey in the 6-part video series High Above Down Under. Episodes released weekly starting June 27, 2023.", "width": 180, "height": 320, "pixels": 57600 } }, { "id": 410834, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 14164, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14164/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Australia Sounding Rocket Campaign Press Kit", "description": "NASA will launch three suborbital sounding rockets in June and July 2022 from the Arnhem Space Center in Australia’s Northern Territory to conduct astrophysics studies that can only be done from the Southern Hemisphere. The three missions will focus on α Centauri A and B, two of the three-star α Centauri system that are the closest stars to our Sun, and X-rays emanating from the interstellar medium, clouds of gases and particles between stars.The three sounding rocket night-time missions will be launched between June 26 and July 12 on two-stage Black Brant IX sounding rockets, from the Arnhem Space Center, which is owned and operated by Equatorial Launch Australia or ELA. The Arnhem Space Center is a commercial space launch facility, located on the Dhupuma Plateau near Nhulunbuy. The NASA missions will be the first launches from Arnhem.Learn more: Australia Sounding Rocket Fact SheetWatch more: Sounding Rockets: Cutting Edge Science, 15 Minutes at a TimeWhat Is a Sounding Rocket?Riding Along with a NASA Sounding Rocket || ", "release_date": "2022-06-07T19:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T11:44:07.790277-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 371045, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014100/a014164/DEUCE_Launch.00070_print.jpg", "filename": "DEUCE_Launch.00070_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A NASA Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket was successfully launched at 7:01 a.m. EDT (8:31 p.m. ACST) July 11, 2022, from the Arnhem Space Center (ASC) in the Northern Territory of Australia. The launch was for the Dual-channel Extreme Ultraviolet Continuum Experiment, or DEUCE, for the University of Colorado, Boulder. Preliminary analysis shows that good data was received by the science instrument during the flight.The rocket carried the science instrument to an altitude of 162 miles (262 km) before descending by parachute and landing southwest of the launch site. Recovery operations of the science instrument and the rocket motors are in progress.Credit: NASA Goddard/Mara Johnson-Groh", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371327, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371327", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "EVE", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 503761, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 14779, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14779/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA's Illuminate Series (2025)", "description": "NASA's Illuminate is a video series about out-of-this-world images that shine light on our Sun and solar system. || ", "release_date": "2025-02-11T09:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2026-01-23T10:01:13-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1156221, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014700/a014779/CODEX-thumbnail.png", "filename": "CODEX-thumbnail.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "CODEX Begins Decoding the Solar WindNASA’s Coronal Diagnostic Experiment, or CODEX, has just delivered its first images — and they’re stunning! Mounted on the exterior of the International Space Station, CODEX is a solar coronagraph designed to block out bright light from the Sun to reveal our star’s outer atmosphere, or corona.This mission gives scientists an unprecedented look at solar dynamics right from low Earth orbit. Watch the video to see these amazing images and find out what makes CODEX so unique!Video Credit: NASA/Beth AnthonyMusic Credit: “Aglow and Just So – Instrumental” by Jay Price [PRS] via Universal Production MusicSound Effects: pixabay.comAdditional Graphics: vecteezy.com", "width": 1080, "height": 1920, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 410835, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13932, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13932/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Riding Along With a NASA Sounding Rocket (2021)", "description": "On Sept. 9, 2021, a sounding rocket launched from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, carrying a copy of the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment, or EVE. This flight was used to calibrate the identical version of EVE that has flown in space since 2010 aboard NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Over the years, the space-based EVE has become degraded by intense sunlight, so scientists fly periodic calibration missions to keep EVE’s measurements sharp. || ", "release_date": "2021-09-15T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:43:56.936867-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 376873, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013900/a013932/13932_Rocket_EVE_36.353_Highlights_2.5_minutes.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "13932_Rocket_EVE_36.353_Highlights_2.5_minutes.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Short version:This highlight reel shows a selection of footage from the EVE sounding rocket flight and payload recovery, played at different speeds to highlight different parts of the flight. See the same footage in real-time on NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. \r\r00:00 - 00:02 Real-time footage. \r\r00:03 - 00:12 Slowed down to quarter speed (0.25x) to show the launch. The shadow of the rocket and the exhaust plume behind it are visible. \r\r00:12 - 00:28 Sped up twenty times faster (20x). Data is not taken during this time while the rocket flies towards space. The white patch visible on the ground is White Sands National Park. \r\rWhy is the rocket spinning? These rockets use solid fuel. That means that any irregularities in the density cause the rocket to have a little more thrust in one direction. If nothing was done, this would mean the rocket would start veering off course. By spinning it the rocket, any bit of thrust that isn’t perfectly aligned with the long axis of the rocket gets averaged out: There’s a little too much thrust to the front, then to the left, then to the back, then to the right, over and over. The team uses controllable fins and sensors and software that can guide the rocket to go north along the range, rather than some other direction. \r\r00:27 Two thin lines pop out in the aft view. Those are cables with weights on the end. Just like a spinning ice skater moving their arms out, they slow the spin. \r\r00:28 - 00:49 Sped up to 2x. The second stage motor (Black Brant) gets ejected and falls back to the missile range. It’s the black thing tumbling below in the aft view. \r\r00:49 - 01:03 Sped up to 30x. The rocket orients itself so that the instruments are pointing at the Sun and the shutter door is opened. This is when measurements are taken. Pointing control here is extremely good: about one arcsecond pointing accuracy, which is like being in LA and landing a laser on the Washington Monument. \r\r01:03 - 01:11 Sped up to 20x. The shutter door is closed, and the rocket is intentionally tumbled. The rocket is re-entering the atmosphere, so if any one spot of the rocket was constantly taking the brunt of the friction from air, it would do serious damage. Tumbling spreads out that heat load. \r\r01:11 - 01:25 Real-time, and then sped up to 4x. The drogue, and then the parachute, are deployed. \r\r01:25 - 01:33 Real-time. In the aft view, you can see the shadow of the rocket and the parachute. \r\r01:33 - 01:34 Sped up to 8x. Coming down. \r\r01:34. Landing! \r\r01:40 - 02:16 Footage is played at various speeds while the team recovers the payload. \r\r02:16 - end: This is what some of the data looked like. The yellow-tinted movie of the Sun is from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, and shows what the Sun looked like during the flight at one of the wavelengths measured (17.1 nm). This rocket flight was to calibrate a different instrument – EVE – on SDO, which is then also used to calibrate the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly. \r\rVideo and annotation credit: NASA/University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics/James Mason\r", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 410836, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10797, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10797/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Riding on a Sounding Rocket", "description": "On March 23, 2011, two on-board cameras followed a sounding rocket on its journey from Earth to space and back again. The rocket was launched to measure solar energy output and calibrate the EVE instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory. || ", "release_date": "2011-07-05T08:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:43.257878-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 484898, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010700/a010797/Sounding_Rocket_Still_1.jpg", "filename": "Sounding_Rocket_Still_1.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Sounding rocket video. No narration or music, natural sound only.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371328, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371328", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "RockOn!", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410837, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13252, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13252/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "RockOn! 2019", "description": "Students from across the United States witnessed the launching of their experiments aboard a NASA suborbital sounding rocket Thursday, June 20, 2019, from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket carried 28 experiments (measuring acceleration, humidity, pressure, temperature and radiation counts) from the RockOn! Program.Participants in RockOn! receive instruction on the basics required to develop a scientific payload for flight on a suborbital rocket. After learning the basics in RockOn!, students may then participate in RockSat-C, where during the school year they design and build a more complicated experiment.Conducted with the Colorado and Virginia Space Grant Consortia, RockOn! is in its twelfth year and RockSat-C its eleventh year. || ", "release_date": "2019-07-25T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:46.797366-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 394683, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013200/a013252/RockonImage_print.jpg", "filename": "RockonImage_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Video covering students during the RockOn! Program.", "width": 1024, "height": 555, "pixels": 568320 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371329, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371329", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "Grand Challenge Initiative - Cusp", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410838, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13430, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13430/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Why NASA is sending rockets into Earth’s leaky atmosphere", "description": "In the tiny Arctic town of Ny-Ålesund, where polar bears outnumber people, winter means three months without sunlight. The unending darkness is ideal for those who seek a strange breed of northern lights, normally obscured by daylight. When these unusual auroras shine, Earth’s atmosphere leaks into space.NASA scientists traveled to Ny-Ålesund to launch rockets through these auroras and witness oxygen particles right in the middle of their escape. Piercing these fleeting auroras, some 300 miles high, would require strategy, patience — and a fair bit of luck. This was NASA’s VISIONS-2 mission, and this is their story.VISIONS-2 was just the first of many. Over the coming months, rocket teams from all over the world will launch rockets into this region as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative—Cusp, an international collaboration to study the mysteries of the polar atmosphere. || ", "release_date": "2019-11-14T12:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:31.603621-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 390781, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013400/a013430/VISIONS2_Thumbnail.jpg", "filename": "VISIONS2_Thumbnail.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available.Music credits: “Journey to the Past”, “New Philosopher”, “Curiosity Cabinet”, “Buzzing Culture”, “Dusk Theories”, “At the Edge of the End” by Laurent Dury [SACEM]; “Strong Voices” by Tom Caffey [ASCAP]; “The Fortune Teller” by Phil Stevens [PRS]; “Shinobi’s Fight” by Benoit Malis [SACEM]; “Spring into Life” by Oliver Worth [PRS]", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } }, { "id": 410839, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13169, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13169/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Grand Challenge-Cusp Graphics (updated)", "description": "GraphicAn overview of the missions involved in the Grand Challenge Initiative-Cusp with the missions launched as of May 2019. A PDF version is available below.Credit: Mary P. Hrybyk-Keith || CUSP_Alone_Launched.png (1298x1003) [5.1 MB] || CUSP_Alone_Launched_print.jpg (1024x791) [325.2 KB] || CUSP_Alone_Launched_searchweb.png (320x180) [111.4 KB] || CUSP_Alone_Launched_thm.png (80x40) [6.9 KB] || ", "release_date": "2019-05-09T16:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:58.128591-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 395944, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013169/CUSP_Alone_Launched.png", "filename": "CUSP_Alone_Launched.png", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "GraphicAn overview of the missions involved in the Grand Challenge Initiative-Cusp with the missions launched as of May 2019. A PDF version is available below.Credit: Mary P. Hrybyk-Keith", "width": 1298, "height": 1003, "pixels": 1301894 } } }, { "id": 410840, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13171, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13171/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Grand Challenge Initiative - Cusp: Launch Photos & Videos", "description": "AZURE MissionColorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientist to measure auroral winds.Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield || Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg (1024x682) [97.8 KB] || Azure_ampule_release.jpg (2400x1600) [346.6 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_searchweb.png (320x180) [54.6 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_web.png (320x213) [67.1 KB] || Azure_ampule_release_thm.png (80x40) [4.6 KB] || ", "release_date": "2019-04-09T15:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:01.877806-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 396563, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013171/Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg", "filename": "Azure_ampule_release_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "AZURE MissionColorful clouds formed by the release of vapors from the two AZURE rockets allow scientist to measure auroral winds.Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield", "width": 1024, "height": 682, "pixels": 698368 } } }, { "id": 410841, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13172, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13172/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "VISIONS-2 Imagery", "description": "A collection of photos captured during NASA's VISIONS-2 sounding rocket campaign in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, a remote archipelago off the northern coast of Norway. The mission successfully launched on Dec. 7, 2018. || ", "release_date": "2019-05-08T17:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:45:58.297414-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 396582, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013172/Moonlit_Ny-Alesund-_print.jpg", "filename": "Moonlit_Ny-Alesund-_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Moonlit landscape in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Credit: NASA/Chris Pirner", "width": 1024, "height": 373, "pixels": 381952 } } }, { "id": 410842, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13167, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13167/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "VISIONS-2 Aurora Imagery", "description": "Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 6, 2018. A GIF optimized for Twitter. || Aurora.gif (1920x1080) [13.3 MB] || Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 6, 2018.Credit: NASA/Joy Ng || Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_print.jpg (1024x682) [455.2 KB] || Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg.jpg (4104x2736) [4.6 MB] || Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_searchweb.png (320x180) [67.8 KB] || Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_web.png (320x213) [82.2 KB] || Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_thm.png (80x40) [4.6 KB] || ", "release_date": "2019-05-07T15:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2019-05-10T09:47:04-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 396547, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013100/a013167/Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_print.jpg", "filename": "Dec6_Aurora_JoyNg_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 6, 2018.Credit: NASA/Joy Ng", "width": 1024, "height": 682, "pixels": 698368 } } }, { "id": 410843, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 13076, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13076/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Grand Challenge-Cusp Graphics", "description": "GraphicNorth of Norway over the Norwegian and Greenland Seas, a magnetic bubble, known as the cusp, surrounds Earth and dips inward, allowing space particles to funnel in toward the planet.Credit: Andøya Space Center/Trond Abrahamsen || asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_print.jpg (1024x619) [138.1 KB] || asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale.jpeg (5352x3240) [13.0 MB] || asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_searchweb.png (320x180) [67.0 KB] || asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_web.png (320x193) [71.7 KB] || asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_thm.png (80x40) [4.3 KB] || ", "release_date": "2018-09-24T16:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:46:25.494053-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 400185, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a013000/a013076/asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_print.jpg", "filename": "asc-earth-magnetosphere-to-scale_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "GraphicNorth of Norway over the Norwegian and Greenland Seas, a magnetic bubble, known as the cusp, surrounds Earth and dips inward, allowing space particles to funnel in toward the planet.Credit: Andøya Space Center/Trond Abrahamsen", "width": 1024, "height": 619, "pixels": 633856 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371330, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371330", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "Poker Flats", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 503762, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 14944, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14944/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Black Aurora Rocket Instrument Testing at NASA Goddard", "description": "NASA’s Black and Diffuse Aurora Science Surveyor sounding rocket mission has completed its testing campaign at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, ahead of its launch. Sounding rocket missions like this one are suborbital rockets that fly scientific instruments into near-Earth space for short, approximately 15-minute flights. The mission will study so-called “black auroras,” dark patches and stripes that appear within an aurora. Previous research has hinted that they may be formed by electrons going upward escaping back out into space (rather than the absence of any electrons). The visible aurora is formed by an incoming downward stream of electrons. Scientists want to solve the puzzle as to why these patches and stripes form within the visible aurora. From Goddard, the instruments were delivered to Wallops Flight Facility, where they – along with the entire rocket payload – will be shipped to the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the team aims to fly their rocket through black aurora. Onboard instruments will survey the electron populations as they fly through them to understand how and why these black patches and stripes form within the visible aurora. The mission is scheduled for launch no earlier than February 2026. || ", "release_date": "2026-01-06T16:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2025-02-18T10:38:59.752697-05:00", "main_image": { "id": 1195443, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a014900/a014944/14944_BADASS_InstrumentWorkBench_4k_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "filename": "14944_BADASS_InstrumentWorkBench_4k_ProRes.00001_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "B-RollDanjing Chen, mechanical engineer for the mission, reassembles the CHIMPS instrument ahead of vacuum testing in the ITM Electronics Lab at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.Video Credit: NASA/Lacey Young", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 410844, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 4611, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4611/", "page_type": "Infographic", "title": "2018 Poker Flat Sounding Rocket Infographic", "description": "Image of poster || 2018_Poker_Flat_Sounding_Rocket_Quick_Look_Infographic.jpg (3378x6000) [2.4 MB] || 2018_Poker_Flat_Sounding_Rocket_Quick_Look_Infographic_searchweb.png (320x180) [64.9 KB] || 2018_Poker_Flat_Sounding_Rocket_Quick_Look_Infographic_thm.png (80x40) [6.0 KB] || For More Information || See [NASA.gov](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-alaska-launched-rockets-to-study-space-x-ray-emissions-and-create-polar-mesospheric) || ", "release_date": "2018-01-19T14:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:02.154595-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 407537, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a000000/a004600/a004611/2018_Poker_Flat_Sounding_Rocket_Quick_Look_Infographic.jpg", "filename": "2018_Poker_Flat_Sounding_Rocket_Quick_Look_Infographic.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Image of poster", "width": 3378, "height": 6000, "pixels": 20268000 } } }, { "id": 410845, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12598, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12598/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sounding Rockets Highlights", "description": "NASA Launches Sounding Rockets to Study AuroraMusic credit: Trial by Gresby Race Nash [PRS] from Killer Tracks. || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg (1024x682) [134.2 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_searchweb.png (320x180) [74.7 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_web.png (320x213) [92.8 KB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_thm.png (80x40) [5.3 KB] || 12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER.mov (1152x768) [579.8 MB] || PRORES_B-ROLL-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_prores.mov (1280x720) [590.8 MB] || APPLE_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_appletv.m4v (1280x720) [41.0 MB] || NASA_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER.mpeg (1280x720) [280.2 MB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.mp4 (1152x768) [85.0 MB] || YOUTUBE_HQ-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_youtube_hq.mov (1152x768) [105.8 MB] || LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.webm (1152x768) [8.9 MB] || APPLE_TV-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_appletv_subtitles.m4v (1280x720) [41.1 MB] || soundingrockets-v14.en_US.srt [1.1 KB] || soundingrockets-v14.en_US.vtt [1.1 KB] || NASA_PODCAST-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_ipod_sm.mp4 (320x240) [14.1 MB] || ", "release_date": "2017-05-04T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:42.294724-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 414537, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012500/a012598/LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg", "filename": "LARGE_MP4-12598_SoundingRockets_MASTER_large.00745_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "NASA Launches Sounding Rockets to Study AuroraMusic credit: Trial by Gresby Race Nash [PRS] from Killer Tracks.", "width": 1024, "height": 682, "pixels": 698368 } } }, { "id": 410846, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12523, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12523/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Aurora Imagery from Poker Flats", "description": "The northern lights were seen over Alaska the night of Feb. 16, 2017 at the the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach || PFAurora2.gif (1200x800) [1.5 MB] || PFAurora2_searchweb.png (320x180) [57.6 KB] || PFAurora2_thm.png (80x40) [4.7 KB] || ", "release_date": "2017-02-23T10:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:47:54.412723-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 415934, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012500/a012523/PFAurora2.gif", "filename": "PFAurora2.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "The northern lights were seen over Alaska the night of Feb. 16, 2017 at the the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. Credit: NASA/Terry Zaperach", "width": 1200, "height": 800, "pixels": 960000 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371331, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371331", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "DXL", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410847, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 12363, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12363/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA-Funded Sounding Rocket Solves One Cosmic Mystery, Reveals Another", "description": "DXL.jpg (1280x720) [59.0 KB] || 12363_DXL_ProRes422.mov (1920x1080) [1.3 GB] || DXL_v2.mp4 (1920x1080) [50.9 MB] || 12363_DXL_ProRes422.webm (1920x1080) [5.1 MB] || DXL_v2.en_US.srt [387 bytes] || DXL_v2.en_US.vtt [400 bytes] || ", "release_date": "2016-09-23T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:48:14.152079-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 420710, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a012300/a012363/DXL2.gif", "filename": "DXL2.gif", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "", "width": 1041, "height": 586, "pixels": 610026 } } }, { "id": 410848, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11550, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11550/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA X-ray Instrument Confirms the 'Local Hot Bubble'", "description": "New findings from the NASA-funded Diffuse X-ray emission from the Local Galaxy (DXL) mission have resolved a decades-old puzzle about a fog of low-energy X-rays observed over the entire sky. Using refurbished detectors first flown on a NASA sounding rocket in the 1970s, astronomers have now confirmed the long-held suspicion that much of this glow stems from a region of million-degree interstellar plasma known as the local hot bubble, or LHB.In the 1990s, a six-month all-sky survey by the German X-ray observatory ROSAT provided improved maps of the soft X-ray diffuse background. But it also revealed that comets were an unexpected source of soft X-rays. As scientists began to understand this process, called solar wind charge exchange, they realized it could occur anywhere neutral atoms interacted with the solar wind, leading scientists to challenge the LHB interpretation.On Dec. 12, 2012, DXL launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico atop a NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket, reaching a peak altitude of 160 miles (258 km) and spending five minutes above Earth's atmosphere. The mission design allowed the instrument to observe a worst-case scenario involving charge exchange with interstellar gas.The solar system is currently passing through a small cloud of cold interstellar gas as it moves through the galaxy. The cloud’s neutral hydrogen and helium atoms stream through the planetary system at about 56,000 mph (90,000 km/h). While hydrogen atoms quickly ionize and respond to numerous forces, the helium atoms travel paths largely governed by the sun's gravity. This creates a \"helium focusing cone\" downstream from the sun that crosses Earth's orbit and is located high in the sky near midnight in early December. Better still, it forms a region with a much greater density of neutral atoms and a correspondingly enhanced charge exchange rate.The solar wind originates in the sun's corona, the hottest part of its atmosphere, so its atoms have been ionized, stripped of many of their electrons. When these particles collide with a neutral atom, one of its electrons often jumps to the solar wind ion. Once captured, the electron briefly remains in an excited state, then emits a soft X-ray and settles down at a lower energy. To establish a baseline for the soft X-ray background, the researchers used data captured by the ROSAT mission in September 1990 in a direction looking along, rather than into, the helium focusing cone. The results indicate that only about 40 percent of the soft X-ray background originates within the solar system, which means the LHB is the dominant source. || ", "release_date": "2014-07-28T13:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:42.241662-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 455236, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011500/a011550/Charge_Exchange_Still_1.jpg", "filename": "Charge_Exchange_Still_1.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "This animation illustrates solar wind charge exchange in action. An atom of interstellar helium (blue) collides with a solar wind ion (red), losing one of its electrons (yellow) to the other particle. As it settles into a lower-energy state, the electron emits a soft X-ray. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterWatch this video on the NASAgovVideo YouTube channel.", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "pixels": 2073600 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371332, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371332", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "Solar Corona", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410849, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 30466, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/30466/", "page_type": "Hyperwall Visual", "title": "Sharpest-Ever Images of the Sun's Corona", "description": "In July 2012 NASA's High Resolution Coronal Imager, or Hi-C, telescope launched on a sounding rocket and captured the highest-resolution images ever taken of the sun's million-degree atmosphere, or corona. The square area outlined in yellow in the full disk image of the sun [left], taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Array (AIA) on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), represents the Hi-C field-of-view. The Hi-C telescope captured five minutes of data of the solar corona at about five times finer resolution than SDO's AIA. Within the Hi-C field-of-view [center], scientists identified several examples of coronal braiding—structures that appear to be wrapped and woven together. Zoomed in [right], these braided structures appear to be several strands, or magnetic field lines, tangled together, illuminated by hot plasma. This particular braided structure released energy in a small solar flare, shortly after the Hi-C flight. For decades scientists have sought to understand why the corona is 50 to 100 times hotter than the surface of the sun. Images like these, taken by Hi-C, hint that these braided structures release magnetic energy that likely contributes to the intense heating of the solar corona.Used in 2014 Calendar. || ", "release_date": "2013-11-01T12:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2024-10-10T00:21:05.330817-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 429984, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a030000/a030400/a030466/sharpest_images_sun_corona_cal_print.jpg", "filename": "sharpest_images_sun_corona_cal_print.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "High-resolution images of the sun's corona from Hi-C telescope, July 2012.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 410850, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11613, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11613/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "EUNIS Sees Evidence for Nanoflare Heating", "description": "Scientists have recently gathered some of the strongest evidence to date to explain what makes the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than its surface. The new observations show temperatures in the atmosphere so hot that only one current theory explains them: something called nanoflares – a constant peppering of impulsive bursts of heating, none of which can be individually detected — provide the mysterious extra heat. These new observations come from just six minutes worth of data from one of NASA's least expensive type of missions, a sounding rocket. The EUNIS mission, short for Extreme Ultraviolet Normal Incidence Spectrograph, launched on April 23, 2013, gathering a new snapshot of data every 1.3 seconds to track the properties of material over a wide range of temperatures in the complex solar atmosphere. The unique capabilities of EUNIS enabled researchers to obtain these results. The spectrograph was able to clearly and unambiguously distinguish the observations representing the extremely hot material – emission lines showing light with a wavelength of 592.6 angstrom, where an angstrom is the size of an atom — from a very nearby light wavelength of 592.2 angstroms. || ", "release_date": "2014-08-01T10:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:50:41.257031-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 453014, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011600/a011613/EUNIS720.jpg", "filename": "EUNIS720.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Watch this video on the NASAexplorer YouTube channel.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 410851, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 11183, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/11183/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Sharper Image", "description": "On July 11, 2012, NASA launched a sounding rocket that carried a solar telescope on a 620-second flight to space and back. About a minute into the ride, the rocket—called Hi-C, for High-Resolution Coronal imager—reached an altitude where Earth's atmosphere no longer blocked the extreme ultraviolet light the telescope was designed to observe. From this vantage point, Hi-C snapped images that revealed the dynamic structure of the super-hot solar atmosphere in five times sharper detail than ever before. Hi-C captured details 135 miles across; the previous record-holder, NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), captures details about 675 miles across. Watch the video to see a side-by-side comparison of imagery from Hi-C and SDO. || ", "release_date": "2013-02-07T00:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:52:25.297763-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 468431, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011183/HIC_cover_option.jpg", "filename": "HIC_cover_option.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "A 10-minute rocket ride brought back the most detailed pictures of the sun ever taken. ", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } } ], "extra_data": {} }, { "id": 371333, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/sounding-rockets/#media_group_371333", "widget": "Card gallery", "title": "High-Altitude Winds", "caption": "", "description": "", "items": [ { "id": 410852, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10922, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10922/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "NASA Jet Stream Study Lights up Night Sky", "description": "High in the sky, 60 to 65 miles above Earth's surface, winds rush through a little understood region of Earth's atmosphere at speeds of 200 to 300 miles per hour. Lower than a typical satellite's orbit, higher than where most planes fly, this upper atmosphere jet stream makes a perfect target for a particular kind of scientific experiment: the sounding rocket. Some 35 to 40 feet long, sounding rockets shoot up into the sky for short journeys of eight to ten minutes, allowing scientists to probe difficult-to-reach layers of the atmosphere.In March, NASA will launch five such rockets in approximately five minutes to study these high-altitude winds and their intimate connection to the complicated electrical current patterns that surround Earth. First noticed in the 1960s, the winds in this jet stream shouldn't be confused with the lower jet stream located around 30,000 feet, through which passenger jets fly and which is reported in weather forecasts. This rocket experiment is designed to gain a better understanding of the high-altitude winds and help scientists better model the electromagnetic regions of space that can damage man-made satellites and disrupt communications systems. The experiment will also help explain how the effects of atmospheric disturbances in one part of the globe can be transported to other parts of the globe in a mere day or two.The five sounding rockets, known as the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX), will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia releasing a chemical tracer into the air. The chemical — a substance called trimethyl aluminum — forms milky, white clouds that allow those on the ground to \"see\" the winds in space and track them with cameras. In addition, two of the rockets will have instrumented payloads to measure pressure and temperature in the atmosphere. || ", "release_date": "2012-03-07T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:13.690589-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 478510, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010922/ATREX_Still_1.jpg", "filename": "ATREX_Still_1.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Short narrated video about ATREX.For complete transcript, click here.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } }, { "id": 410853, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10949, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10949/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Glowing Winds", "description": "At the outer limit of Earth's atmosphere, located more than 60 miles above the surface, mysterious winds rushing at speeds up to 300 miles per hour surround the planet. Little is known about this high altitude jet stream beyond the fact that its complex motion can spread space weather disturbances around the globe, which, in turn, can cause damage to satellites and disruption to communication systems. To observe the jet stream's wind patterns, NASA launched five 35-foot long sounding rockets packed with a chemical tracer over the Atlantic Ocean on March 27, 2012. Cameras on the ground tracked the movement of the glowing, milky-white clouds that developed in the early morning sky as the tracer deployed from the rockets and interacted with the jet stream. Watch the videos below to learn more about this experiment and see the rockets blast off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. || ", "release_date": "2012-04-10T00:00:00-04:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:09.028845-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 477225, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010949/COVER_1024x576.jpg", "filename": "COVER_1024x576.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Artificial clouds illuminate a jet stream at the edge of space.", "width": 1024, "height": 576, "pixels": 589824 } } }, { "id": 410854, "type": "details_page", "extra_data": null, "instance": { "id": 10924, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10924/", "page_type": "Produced Video", "title": "Terrier-improved Malemute Animations", "description": "Animations of the Terrier-improved malemute type sounding rocket. || ", "release_date": "2012-03-07T13:00:00-05:00", "update_date": "2023-05-03T13:53:13.794025-04:00", "main_image": { "id": 478355, "url": "https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a010900/a010924/Ascent0220.jpg", "filename": "Ascent0220.jpg", "media_type": "Image", "alt_text": "Rocket ascending into space passes by the camera.", "width": 1280, "height": 720, "pixels": 921600 } } } ], "extra_data": {} } ] }