A ‘FURST’ of its Kind: Sounding Rocket Mission to Study Sun as a Star

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) By Jessica Barnett  From Earth, one might be tempted to view the Sun as a unique celestial object like no other, as it’s the star our home planet orbits and the one our planet relies on most for heat and light. But if you took a step back and compared the Sun to the other stars NASA has studied over the years, how would it compare? Would it still be so unique? The Full-sun Ultraviolet Rocket SpecTrograph (FURST) aims…

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This Rocks! NASA is Sending Student Science to Space

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) A Terrier Improved Malemute sounding rocket carrying RockSat-X student developed experiments being raised on the launch rail on Wallops Island NASA NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia is scheduled to launch a sounding rocket carrying student-developed experiments for the RockSat-X mission on Tuesday, Aug. 13. The Terrier-Improved Malemute rocket is expected to reach an altitude of about 100 miles (162 kilometers) before descending by parachute into the Atlantic Ocean to be recovered. The launch window for the mission is…

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Hi-C Rocket Experiment Achieves Never-Before-Seen Look at Solar Flares

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) The High-Resolution Coronal Imager, or Hi-C, launches aboard a Black Brant IX sounding rocket April 17 at Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska. NASA By Jessica Barnett  After months of preparation and years since its last flight, the upgraded High Resolution Coronal Imager Flare mission – Hi-C Flare, for short – took to the skies for a never-before-seen view of a solar flare. The low-noise cameras – built at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama –…

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NASA Rocket to See Sizzling Edge of Star-Forming Supernova

5 min read NASA Rocket to See Sizzling Edge of Star-Forming Supernova A new sounding rocket mission is headed to space to understand how explosive stellar deaths lay the groundwork for new star systems. The Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Experiment, or INFUSE, sounding rocket mission, will launch from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on Oct. 29, 2023, at 9:35 p.m. MDT. For a few months each year, the constellation Cygnus (Latin for “swan”) swoops through the northern hemisphere’s night sky. Just above its wing is a favorite target…

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