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Another Stealth NASA Rocket Launch (Update)

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
February 22, 2012
Filed under , , , ,

Scientists Launch NASA Rocket into Aurora, University of New Hampshire
“Funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Alfven resonator (MICA) mission sent a 40-foot Terrier-Black Brant rocket arcing through aurora 186 miles above Earth. The rocket sent a stream of real-time data back before landing some 200 miles downrange shortly after the launch.”
Rocket Launched into Northern Lights To Illuminate GPS Effects, Cornell University
“A NASA-funded collaborative research team led by Steven Powell, Cornell senior engineer in electrical and computer engineering, launched a sounding rocket from Alaska’s Poker Flat Research Range on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 8:41 p.m. Alaska Standard Time (Sunday, Feb. 19, 2012 at 12:41 a.m. EST) to collect data straight from the heart of the aurora.”
Keith’s 20 Feb note: While these two universities are obviously excited about this launch, NASA certainy isn’t. All that was announced by Poker Flat (on their webpage only) was a long launch window. No press release, media advisory before or after the launch. Nothing whatsoever from NASA or any of its field centers either. According to the Poker Flat website “Poker Flat Research Range is the world’s only scientific rocket launching facility owned by a university. Poker Flat is located approximately 30 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska and is operated by the University of Alaska’s Geophysical Institute under contract to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, which is part of the Goddard Space Flight Center.”
Ah, that should explain the situation: Wallops is apparently mentoring Poker Flats on PR. Not a good sign since NASA Wallops PAO is barely capable of even the most rudimentary launch event public awareness itself.
Keith’s 21 Feb update: CNN just spent 30 seconds showing this pretty picture. Too bad NASA doesn’t seem to think enough to post it.
Keith’s 22 Feb update: NASA is still ignoring this NASA rocket launch. Very odd.

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

5 responses to “Another Stealth NASA Rocket Launch (Update)”

  1. lars0 says:
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    I think the reason we are hearing about this after the fact is because sounding rocket shots when you are trying to hit the aurora is very hit-or-miss. Scrubs are extremely common, and you have to wait for the weather to be just perfect (and the aurora to be overhead).

    Source: Grew up in Fairbanks, have connections to Poker Flat.
    I am not defending PAO here.

  2. Chris Holmes says:
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    Why is it so difficult for anyone in NASA PAO to point even a basic video camera and post video?  What could have been an amazing visual tool to promote science is nothing more than a still photo that few will pause for. A well written video package talking about Fairbanks’ typical minus-40 temps, the vivid aurora because of sun activity – all these are neat backdrops for what could have been an awesome story.  At least, NASA, at the very least, why don’t you alert local television in FBX and let them do it???

    • kcowing says:
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      Agree. In 2009 I did live video from Everest Base Camp at 17,600 feet and zero degrees F at 4 am.  If I can do that then NASA can do this.

  3. Ben Russell-Gough says:
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    There does seem to be a pattern here: Any ORBITAL launch, no matter how routine or how classified the payload (to the point where they can’t even show the upper stage burn for fear someone may deduce the final orbit) gets reported in full.  Any SUBORBITAL launch, no matter how significant or scientifically important gets ignored.

    Unless it’s Ares-I-X, of course.