Two NASA rockets launched into auroras over Alaska last week to study the impact that these geomagnetic light shows have on Earth's upper atmosphere, and the results were gorgeous.
The experiment, called Auroral Waves Excited by Substorm Onset Magnetic Events, or AWESOME, is led by researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). Two of three planned sounding rockets launched from the Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the early morning hours on March 25.
