Colorful Clouds To Illuminate Sky During NASA's Rocket Launch Thursday
PHILADELPHIA (CBS)--A rocket launch set for Tuesday at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia has been scrubbed due to cloudy skies.
NASA says they will attempt to launch the rocket on Thursday night.
The rocket launch is expected to create an aurora-esque sight in the sky over the Delaware Valley.
This will be the sixth attempt to launch the Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket.
Colorful, luminescent clouds will appear in the sky in the minutes after take-off from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, scheduled for between 9:09 p.m. and 9:19 p.m. Thursday.
The artificial aurora will form as a result of 10 canisters of vapor deployed from the rocket to help scientists study air motions in the ionosphere. Three chemicals will interact to form these color tracers; barium, strontium and cupric-oxide. None of these chemicals will hazardous to anyone along the coast.
