igotthisguitar
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
Location: South Korea (Permanent Vacation)
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 Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 12:32 am Post subject: Launch Of Northern Lights Probe Delayed Again |
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Launch Of Northern Lights Probe Delayed Again
Fri Feb 16, 7:47 PM
CALGARY (CBC) - Strong winds forced NASA on Friday to again postpone the launch of a rocket carrying five satellites that will study the causes of the substorms behind the northern lights.
The rocket - part of the THEMIS project, a joint venture of NASA and the Canadian Space Agency - is scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
It was initially scheduled to launch Thursday, then pushed back to Friday, before being postponed again until Saturday.
"The strong winds would have affected the rocket's path," NASA spokeswoman Rani Gran said Friday.
The project will send the satellites into orbit to monitor the interaction between charged particles expelled by the sun and the Earth's magnetic field.
These particles - collectively referred to as the solar wind - build up in the tail end of the magnetic field and can be released in auroral substorms.
The released electrons interact with molecules in the atmosphere, appearing in the night sky as the spectacular displays of the aurora borealis, or northern lights.
The THEMIS project includes contributions from scientists from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
Ian Mann, a professor at the University of Alberta, hopes the information from the satellites and 20 ground-based observatories will help unlock a pattern to the substorms, which can lead to unexpected electrical discharges on spacecraft surfaces, possibly damaging sensitive electronics.
"We know where it comes from and we know that it happens, but we don't know why it happens," Mann told CBC News Online.
With files from the Associated Press |
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