NASA rockets probe upper jet stream

After several delays, NASA launched five rockets from Virginia March 27 that are part of a study of the upper level jet stream.

The rockets began blasting off just before 5 a.m. from NASA's space centre on Wallops Island. Bad weather had postponed other planned launches last week.

The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) will help scientists understand the jet stream, which is located about 100 kilometres above Earth's surface.

After launching, the rockets released a chemical tracer to form white clouds that allowed scientists and the public to visualize the winds.

"This area shows winds much larger than expected," Miguel Larsen, a space scientist at Clemson University and principal investigator, told WebProNews, a news and tech site.

"We don’t yet know what we’re going to see, but there is definitely something unusual going on. ATREX will help us understand the big question about what is driving these fast winds."

"People have launched single rockets before," says Larsen. "But the key here is that we’re extending the range of measurements to many hundreds of miles. The furthest rocket will make it half way to Bermuda."

A NASA statement says the launches and clouds were reportedly seen as far south as Wilmington, N.C. (500 kilometres) and as far north as Buffalo, N.Y. (800 kilometres).