Published: Just now
If all goes well, a probe rocket will be launched from Esrange this evening at 18.40.
It is the Institute for Space Physics (IRF) that launches the rocket.
– You will be able to see colorful light clouds within a radius of about 20 miles from Esrange, says Annelie Klint Nilsson, informant at IRF.
The Institute for Space Physics (IRF) is conducting an experiment this evening. They will launch a probe rocket from the Esrange space base to create spectacular light phenomena.
At the moment, it is planned to postpone it at 18.40, but that can change if there is a change in the weather.
The purpose is to study conditions in near-Earth space, the ionosphere.
Upon activation in the ionosphere, colorful light phenomena are formed that will be visible in the evening sky
The colorful barium clouds should be visible from any location with clear weather within a distance of less than 200 kilometers from Esrange.
– It is very important that the weather is right, says Annelie Klint Nilsson, informant at IRF.
She adds that it is not at all impossible that the postponement will be postponed. If the weather were to change.
Therefore, the probe is launched
A probe of this kind makes it possible to observe the movements of the neutral and charged atmospheric particles. They provide important information about the electric field and currents in space near the Earth.
The height that the probe reaches allows one to locate electric fields and currents that are in the range of 100-150 km.
This height cannot be reached by airplanes or satellites, but only by rocket.
A number of similar experiments have been conducted from the rocket base in Andøya, Norway, over the past four years.
At the same time as IRF’s experiment is being carried out at Esrange, an experiment called VortEx will take place in Norway.