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Rocket Science

Physicists Produce Trails in Ionosphere to Image Solar Winds

September 1, 2003

Above the ozone layer is the ionosphere, a layer of charged particles that lies between satellites and their receivers on earth. When solar storms hit the ionosphere, they can cause major interference. To better understand and predict space weather, physicists are launching rockets into the ionosphere to release luminescent trails and use them to measure solar winds.


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Martha J. Heil
mheil@aip.org
American Institute of Physics
Tel: 301-209-3088