Two sounding rockets will be launched this month under Nasa’s Dynamo-2 mission to team up with a satellite to study the giant electric current in Earth’s ionosphere. About 80,000 metres above the Earth surface, where the atmosphere blends into space, a pattern of electrical current swirls in continent-sized circuits forming an Earth-sized electric generator. One sounding rocket will launch into “quiet” conditions, while the other will launch into “disturbed” conditions, on two separate days. The sounding rockets will make brief measurements in space before falling back to Earth a few minutes later. The Dynamo-2 rockets will launch from Nasa’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia on separate days between July 6-20.

Source: Hindustan Times July 03, 2021 14:48 UTC