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A small rocket
carrying 10 canisters of barium and other chemicals is due to
lift off from Wallops Island, Virginia between 9:04 and 9:19
p.m. EDT.
About five minutes after launch the canisters, which are about
the size of soda cans, will release blue-green and red vapors
that will gather into artificial clouds potentially visible from
New York to North Carolina.
The luminescent colors are due to sunlight interacting with the
chemicals barium, strontium and cupric-oxide, the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration said on its website.
Although the flight will last about eight minutes, the colorful
clouds could linger for 20 minutes, depending on atmospheric
conditions.
NASA ground stations at Wallops Island and Duck, N.C., will
track the clouds so scientists can learn more Earth's
ionosphere, a layer at the top of the atmosphere of charged
particles that shoot out into space, creating effects including
auroral displays over the planet's polar regions.
Scientists want to learn more about how the ionosphere interacts
with other layers of the atmosphere.
"The ionosphere is both shaped by waves from the atmosphere
below and uniquely responsive to the changing conditions in
space," NASA said.
Sunday's launch will be delayed if skies are not clear over at
least one of the tracking sites, NASA said. The launch could be
rescheduled for any time between this week and June 18.
(Editing by Letitia Stein and David Gregorio)
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