LIVE: NASA ATREX - Wallops - Five launches in Five minutes - March 27

[Chris Bergin]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html

Should be fun!

[kevin-rf]

Sure hope I am close enough to watch, though at present I have a bunch of clouds on my southern horizon.

[catdlr]

Here are a couple of Videos to help explain and describe the event:

From SpaceVidsNet of a video from NASA TV:

"In March 2012, NASA Wallops Flight Center is teaming up with Clemson University for the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX). The experiment consists of launching 5 rockets in about 5 minutes to study the high-altitude jet stream. The rockets will release a tracer that forms a milky, white trail-shaped cloud that will allow scientists to "see" winds in space. The tracers may be visible from South Carolina to the northeastern States for 20 minutes after launch. The ATREX launch window is March 14 to April 3."

"This video containers B-Roll of the construction of the rockets, as well as a CGI animation of the launch. Finally file footage of previous launch is included."

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/M3HP1CETjoE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/M3HP1CETjoE&rel=1</a>


Video uploaded from VideoFromSpace from Goddard Space Flight Center:

"In March 2012, NASA will launch five sounding rockets in approximately five minutes on the ATREX mission to measure 200-300 mile-per-hour winds at the edge of space."

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HLTqitidWbI&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/HLTqitidWbI&rel=1</a>

[Chris Bergin]

Scrubbed until the 16th:

NASA has scrubbed tonight's launch attempt for the ATREX mission because of a payload problem. Next attempt no earlier than night of 3/16

[Ronsmytheiii]

Tonight's ATREX launch attempt has been cancelled due to internal radio frequency interference on one of the instrumented payloads. The next launch attempt will be no earlier than Friday/Saturday with the go/no-go decision to be made late Thursday afternoon.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex-launch.html

[robertross]

Tonight's ATREX launch attempt has been cancelled due to internal radio frequency interference on one of the instrumented payloads. The next launch attempt will be no earlier than Friday/Saturday with the go/no-go decision to be made late Thursday afternoon.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex-launch.html

Thanks. That sounds like it will take longer than 24hrs if they have to install an RFI shield.

[Rahkashi]

This is interesting. I know at least two rockets have launched in the same day, but five in support of the same project? Has anything like this ever happened before?

Also, are they launching Friday morning or Saturday morning?

[Mapperuo]

If it's just a 24 hour turnaround, It would be Friday morning.

[Ronsmytheiii]

 

ATREX mission of 5 rockets from Wallops no earlier than Sat night, March 17. Poor weather expected March 16.

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/nasa_wallops

[Chris Bergin]

Thread realigned for the 17th

[DaveS]

Launches now rescheduled for Sunday:

"@NASA: The launch of five NASA rockets that will light up the night is now scheduled for Sunday, March 18. http://go.nasa.gov/a4shR0"

[Chris Bergin]

Thanks Dave. I've changed the thread title again.

[Rahkashi]

Postponed until Monday:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html

[Chris Bergin]

Any prospects of acceptable weather coming up for this?

[rdale]

The "normal" weather has been great lately. Same tomorrow. If I had to guess, based on the maps they show with the tracers moving ESE offshore, they want a good jet stream (what we normally would have this time of the year.)

For those paying attention to US weather, this is not normal The jet stream is stuck out near the Rockies and instead of heading to the East Coast, it's headed due north into Canada allowing temps to rocket WELL above normal for the eastern US.

Upper level winds over NC are normally 75 to 100+mph -- they are about 5 mph. Same Monday night.

Tuesday night the winds are back up to 30-50mph, but they are headed almost due south so that would probably have things too close to land. Wednesday night the winds are getting stronger but from the northeast, so the rockets would travel directly back over VA/NC. Thursday night 80mph from due north - nyet.

Friday night - 80mph from the NW!!! But that's 120 hours out - so things can certainly change. But if that's what they want, it's days away still...