On January 27 at 1:40 PM UTC, a Canadian-made Black Brant IX sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. Onboard was the PolarNOx mission.

Remember how cold temperatures can create dangerous conditions for spaceflight.  So why in the world would someone choose to launch a rocket just south of the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter?  You do what the mission calls for. And this mission, PolarNOx, calls for observing nitric oxide in the atmosphere in polar night.  Nitric oxide is formed by aurora, which is the visual phenomenon observed when solar winds interact with our atmosphere and are best observed during those long polar nights.  Nitric oxide is also really fragile and breaks down in sunlight. The Principal Investigator, Dr Scott Bailey of Virginia Tech, intends to discover where in the atmosphere nitric oxide settles.  To make that happen, you launch a rocket from Alaska in the middle of winter.

The Black Brant IX is a solid fuel rocket, but that doesn’t mean it is impervious to the cold.  That solid rocket fuel can actually crack from thermal stress. The crew at Poker Flats did take a few precautions to make sure that the extreme cold didn’t negatively impact the launch, including wrapping the rocket in moving blankets and keeping the rocket inside a custom styrofoam housing with heat before the launch.

You can find more information and a launch video at:

• NASA Sounding Rocket Observing Nitric Oxide in Polar Night (NASA) https://www.nasa.gov/feature/wallops/2020/nasa-sounding-rocket-observing-nitric-oxide-in-the-polar-night
• NASA Launch @ Poker Flat 1.27.2020 (PI: Bailey) (Poker Flat Rocket Range, YouTube)  “>