Sounding rocket launches to study auroras
(PHYSorg.com Space & Earth)

A NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket soars skyward into an aurora over Alaska following a 5:13 a.m. EST, Feb. 22, 2017 launch from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. The rocket carried an Ionospheric Structuring: In Situ and Groundbased Low Altitude StudieS (ISINGLASS) instrumented payload examining the structure of an aurora. ISINGLASS includes the launch of two rockets with identical payloads that will fly into two different types of auroras - an inverted-V arc and a dynamic Alfenic curtain. The launch window for the second rocket runs through March 3.