Rocket Launch Will Produce Artificial Aurora Borealis

A practice countown was completed at Andoya Rocket Range in Norway yesterday, and the first hot countdown will be conducted today. If they launch the rocket today, and if you're in northern Norway, you may see the northern lights. DELTA 2 is set to launch at any day between January 14th to the 28th.



Image source




Links:

DELTA 2 — Andoya Rocket Range (Daily updates)

DELTA-2 campaign

Garanterer nordlys! (in Norwegian)



There's a lot of energy in the aurora borealis. A potentional source for energy in the future?

I'll be keeping an eye on this. Thanks for the info! Sounds pretty neat.

The launch was cancelled yesterday, due to unfavourable weather conditions. Hopefully they'll be able to launch it soon, and that the launch will be successful.


DELTA 2 — Andoya Rocket Range

Wednesday 14 January 2009

The countdown began at 15:00 local time, but weather conditions at all three optical sites did not favour a launch today. The countdown was cancelled at about 19:00.

Here is a picture from Andoya Rocket Range yesterday (Jan 14). It was snowing...



Photo: Trond Abrahamsen, ARR


Photo source

If you want to see the northern or southern lights, rocket launch or not, these maps might be useful. The highest activity level is 10. At the time of this posting, it says "Activity 5".


North:



South:


NOAA POES Auroral Activity

The plots on this page show the current extent and position of the auroral oval at each pole, extrapolated from measurements taken during the most recent polar pass of the NOAA POES satellite.

i will be monitoring this as well, could be interesting to se how they replicate it

Launch was aborted today as well.


Source

Thursday 15 January 2009
The three hour countdown began at 15:00, local time. Local weather had improved since yesterdays count, and it was decided to elevate the launcher for the first time in this campaign.

But the desired launch conditions did not appear. The team conducted a horizontal test of the payload, and then the countdown was aborted at about 21:00, local time.

Today's Photos

edit: D'oh

[edit on 15 Jan 2009 by Hellmutt]

I actually think it will look more like this, rather than a true aurora borealis

www.atoptics.co.uk...

Similar but not the same, but still very cool

Make sure you post some pics when they finally get it up to launch

No launch today. Maybe tomorrow...


DELTA 2 — Andoya Rocket Range

Friday 16 January 2009
The weather forecast for northern Norway leaves no hope for a launch today, so campaign managers decided to cancel tonight´s countdown. The next countdown is scheduled for Saturday.

dosent norway have a "haarp" like device there , esicat if i recall correctly,

wouldent seam to impossible to create norther lights then ,

nasa

french hearsay

EISCAT's ionospheric Heating facility

The Heater is used for ionospheric modification experiments applying high-power transmissions of high-frequency electro-magnetic waves to study plasma parameters in the ionosphere. The name Heating stems from the fact that these high power electromagnetic waves, which are transmitted into the ionosphre with high-gain atennas, heat the electrons and thus modify the plasma state. To create plasma turbulence, the transmitted frequencies have to be close to the plasma resonances, which are 4 to 8 MHz.

forget the 2 cents i gave earlier *edit



[edit on 16-1-2009 by zerbot565]

Today's update:

Saturday 17 January 2009
Weather and science conditions was very promising tonight, and the countdown progressed down to T-12 minutes before holding. All optical sites reported good conditions, but alas, the science conditions did not reach the desired levels.

The launch window was extended with an additional 20 minutes to allow for more time to evaluate the situation. Ultimately the countdown was cancelled at 23:20, local time.

Today´s Photos

Typical. so unlucky i want to se this results they could prove veary interesting. also some what scary becouse northen lights are radioactive.

Today's update. Cancelled again...

Sunday 18 January 2009
The countdown began as usual at 15:00, local time. The vehicle was elevated to vertical position, and the countdown was paused at T-30 minutes.

Although clear skies over the optical sites for most of tonight, local wind at Andenes dictated that the vehicle had to be brought down in to the shelter again. The wind situation did not improve despite a one hour extension of the countdown, and it was decided to cancel the operation at local midnight.

Today´s Photos

Campaign Status. Cancelled again.

Monday 19 January 2009
Countdown began at 15:00, local time and progressed down to T-1:30 and paused there for a while. Then, as science and launch conditions improved, the countdown continued down to T-12 minutes.

Today´s launch attempt was aborted at 23:30, local time.
Today´s Photos

There's an Aurora picture in Today´s Photos, as well as other photos from Andoya Rocket Range.

It was Cancelled again...

Tuesday 20 January 2009
The countdown began at 17:00, local time and progressed down to T-1:30 and holding. Weather and science conditions chose not to cooperate tonight, and the launch vehicle had to remain in shelter. The operation was cancelled at about local midnight.
Today´s Photos

Let's hope they don't run out of time before the launch window closes. We are already half way there:

Launch Window
The rocket can be launched any day between January 14th to the 28th.

www.rocketrange.no...

Latest updates


DELTA 2 — Andoya Rocket Range

Thursday 22 January 2009
The three hour countdown began at 17:00, local time. The launch vehicle remained in shelter while waiting for a rain shower to pass the area. The rain travelled out to sea, however, and the S-310-39 was elevated to vertical position. The countdown held at T-30 minutes for several hours, waiting for the aurora - which didn´t appear at all tonight. Progressing down to T-12 minutes for the last couple of hours, the PI chose to abort the launch attempt at about 03:00, local time.

Today´s Photos

Wednesday 21 January 2009
The campaign team enjoyed a day off.

No photos from when they had their day off...

Latest update

It was cancelled again...

Friday 23 January 2009
Countdown began at 17:00, local time. Local winds were to great for the launch vehicle to elevate, so the countdown held at T-1:30 for several hours before elevating the S-310-39 to vertical position and progressing down to T-30 minutes. With no hope for the desired science conditions to appear, the PI chose to abort the launch attempt at 01:30, local time.

Latest update

And then it was cancelled one more time...

Saturday 24 January 2009
Countdown began at 17:00, local time. The S-310-39 remained under shelter for the duration of the countdown. Some aurora appeared, but electron density was not up to the desired levels, and wind gusts exceeded safety limits. The PI decided to cancel the launch attempt at 02:30, local time.
Today's Photos

And here's the "Today's Photos" link for Friday. The link wasn't there when I posted yesterday.

reply to post by Hellmutt

It seems Norway is in need of some serious weather modification. Of course, the days are so short they can't possibly get anything done.




I'm waiting for some good pictures soon. Unless I traverse very many lines of latitude I'm afraid I'll never see one of the truly amazing sights our planet offers.