NORFOLK, Va. — Skywatchers along the East Coast may be able to see a NASA experiment that will launch a series of rockets to learn more about the little-understood jet stream winds that circle Earth at the edge of space.
On a clear night between March 14 and April 4, NASA plans to launch five rockets in five minutes from its Wallops Island facility in coastal Virginia.
Each rocket will release a chemical leaving a long, milky-white cloud to track the winds that scientists will monitor from cameras on the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia and New Jersey.
The rockets, which usually carry a payload to space and then come back to Earth, will crash into the Atlantic Ocean, where they will become artificial reefs. NASA said the experiment will cost about $4 million.
Firing multiple rockets allows scientists to track the high-speed winds over hundreds of miles. The winds in the thermosphere about 65 miles above the surface can reach speeds up to 300 mph. Larson said scientists aren’t sure why there are such high winds at that altitude, and the experiment will help address that question.
