Glowing Winds

  • Released Tuesday, April 10, 2012
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At the outer limit of Earth's atmosphere, located more than 60 miles above the surface, mysterious winds rushing at speeds up to 300 miles per hour surround the planet. Little is known about this high altitude jet stream beyond the fact that its complex motion can spread space weather disturbances around the globe, which, in turn, can cause damage to satellites and disruption to communication systems. To observe the jet stream's wind patterns, NASA launched five 35-foot long sounding rockets packed with a chemical tracer over the Atlantic Ocean on March 27, 2012. Cameras on the ground tracked the movement of the glowing, milky-white clouds that developed in the early morning sky as the tracer deployed from the rockets and interacted with the jet stream. Watch the videos below to learn more about this experiment and see the rockets blast off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

Artificial clouds illuminate a jet stream at the edge of space.

Artificial clouds illuminate a jet stream at the edge of space.

The first rocket took off at 4:58 a.m. EDT and another rocket shot up every 80 seconds, creating glowing cloud trails in the sky.

Watch this video to learn more about NASA's Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) mission.

The cloud trails lasted in the sky for up to 20 minutes, allowing cameras to record their movement.

The cloud trails lasted in the sky for up to 20 minutes, allowing cameras to record their movement.

The shape of the cloud trails provides scientists with information about the jet stream's wind speed and direction.

The shape of the cloud trails provides scientists with information about the jet stream's wind speed and direction.

The high altitude jet stream is located 50 miles above the conventional jet stream that affects weather on Earth.

The high altitude jet stream is located 50 miles above the conventional jet stream that affects weather on Earth.

For More Information

See NASA.gov

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

This page was originally published on Tuesday, April 10, 2012.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:53 PM EDT.