Science at Work

As technology progresses, scientists are able to do more and more incredible experiments that others are able to witness. One such test will, hopefully, be tested tonight.

On the Wallops Islands, scientists are attempting to launch a rocket that will create colorful clouds that will mimic the northern lights. If lucky people from North Carolina to New York will be able to see these colorful lights!

How will this work you ask? The rocket launched will contain 10 canisters of chemicals that will be deployed every four minutes after the launch. Once in the atmosphere, the chemicals will all mix creating the colors! The three chemicals used are barium, strontium and cupric oxide. The point of this study is to determine how air moves at very high altitudes.

For this test to be successful they will need to launch the rocket between 9:04 and 9:19, but if past experiences dictate future results the launch will most likely not happen. Tonight’s launch is the team’s sixth attempt, having previous attempts canceled due to boats in a “no-boating” zone on Sunday and too much cloud coverage on Monday.

They are hoping for clear skies on Tuesday night but mother nature is against them and has scattered clouds scheduled.

Featured Image via Pixabay