NASA wants to launch rockets into northern lights to study 'black auroras'

image via Space.com

January 25, 2025, 2:00 PM

• •NASA plans to fly two rockets through active auroras to help study the unique ribbons of light that dance across the Alaskan night sky.
• •The rockets are expected to lift off from the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of two missions led by space physicists Marilia Samara and Robert Michell from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
• •The team aims to better understand why some auroras flicker, others pulsate and others appear to have holes.

NASA plans to fly two rockets through active auroras to help study the unique ribbons of light that dance across the Alaskan night sky. The rockets are expected to lift off from the Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of two missions led by space physicists Marilia Samara and Robert Michell from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The team aims to better understand why some auroras flicker, others pulsate and others appear to have holes.

Read original article