Rocket carrying experiments launched from Va.

[June 20, 2013]  WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) -- A rocket carrying students' experiments has been launched from NASA's Wallops Island Flight Facility in Virginia.

The space agency says more than 100 university students and instructors watched from Wallops as the Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket was launched at 5:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

The rocket carried the experiments to an altitude of 73 miles. It then fell in the Atlantic Ocean and the payload was recovered. Students will now analyze the data that was collected.

On Monday, two rockets are scheduled to be launched 15 seconds apart from Wallops. The launches will support a joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to study a global electrical current that sweeps through the ionosphere.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.