Launching Rockets to Study Auroras

NASA于2019年4月5日,在挪威Andøya航天中心成功发射AZURE（the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment）。

美国东部时间下午6时14分和6时16分，美国东部时间下午6时14分和6时16分发射了两枚黑色Brant XI-A探空火箭，携带用于研究极光内部能量交换的科学仪器。

AZURE任务的目的是通过火箭上的仪器和部署可见气体示踪剂来测量大气密度和温度。这些示踪剂是在挪威海上空71至150英里的高度释放出来的，它们使用的物质与烟花中发现的物质类似，可以制造出五颜六色的云，让研究人员能够追踪极光中中性带电粒子的流动。AZURE通过地面摄影跟踪这些彩色云团的运动，并在三维空间中对它们逐时刻的位置进行三角测量，将提供关于电离层两个关键区域不同高度上粒子垂直和水平流动的有价值的数据。

NASA successfully launched AZURE, the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment, mission on April 5, 2019, from the Andøya Space Center in Norway.

Two Black Brant XI-A sounding rockets were launched at 6:14 and 6:16 p.m. EDT, carrying scientific instruments for studying the energy exchange within an aurora.

The AZURE mission is designed to measure the atmospheric density and temperature with instruments on the rockets and by deploying visible gas tracers. The tracers, which were released over the Norwegian Sea at 71 through 150 miles altitude, use substances similar to those found in fireworks to create colorful clouds that allow researchers to track the flow of neutral and charged particles with the auroral wind. By tracking the movement of these colorful clouds via ground-based photography and triangulating their moment-by-moment position in three dimensions, AZURE will provide valuable data on the vertical and horizontal flow of particles in two key regions of the ionosphere over a range of different altitudes.

Image Credit: NASA/Lee Wingfield