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After several delays, NASA creating artificial clouds in space with rocket successfully launched
According to the US space agency, the sounding rocket was launched at 4:25 am EDT on Thursday, June 29 from the NASA`s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
New Delhi: After scrapping several times, NASA has successfully launched a rocket that will create blue-green and red artificial clouds in space.
According to the US space agency, the sounding rocket was launched at 4:25 am EDT on Thursday, June 29 from the NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
After being delayed multiple times over the last 30 days because of bad weather and poor visibility, the rocket flew to an altitude of about 118 miles.
During the 8-minute flight, 10 canisters about the size of a soft drink can were ejected in space, 6 to 12 miles away from the 670-pound main payload.
The canisters deployed blue-green and red vapor that formed artificial clouds were visible from New York to North Carolina.
As per the reports, during an ionosphere or aurora science mission, these clouds, or vapor tracers, allow scientists on the ground to visually track particle motions in space.
The development of the multi-canister ampoule ejection system will allow scientists to gather information over a much larger area than previously possible when deploying the tracers just from the main payload.
Check out these image of colourful clouds shared by NASA Wallops on Twitter: