On a cold February night in Poker Flat, Alaska, a team of
scientists will wait patiently for the exotic red and green glow
of an aurora to illuminate the sky. Instead of simply admiring
the view, this group from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center of
Greenbelt, MD, and The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, CA
will launch a sounding rocket up through the Northern Lights.
The rocket could launch as early as the night of Feb. 2, 2013,
but the team has a two-week window in order to find the perfect
launch conditions. Armed with a series of instruments developed
specifically for this mission, the VISIONS (VISualizing Ion
Outflow via Neutral atom imaging during a Substorm) rocket will
soar high through the arctic sky to study the auroral wind,
which is a strong but intermittent stream of oxygen atoms from
Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Although the rocket will
survive only fifteen minutes before splashing down in the Arctic
Ocean, the information it obtains will provide answers to some
long-standing questio