Colored clouds flashed over the USA: photos of the experiment

Last Thursday hosted the launch of sounding rockets from NASA wallops flight facility (Virginia) to create artificial clouds. Previously, the experiment was repeatedly cancelled due to weather conditions, but on June 29 at 4:25 am et, the photographers finally saw the long-awaited "show" and made stunning images.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting too much from this run, but when the dark sky was filled with shining colorful sky, I was truly amazed, not to say more," — shared his impressions photographer Chris Bekli of stone Harbor in new Jersey.

About 5 minutes after launch the rocket released into the sky with barium, strontium, and copper oxide. When these chemicals interacted, they formed blue-green and red clouds, which gradually fade to purple, scattered in the morning sky.

Harrison Jones from Hanover, Pennsylvania, managed to get a few enlarged images of clouds, being 320 kilometers Northwest of the launch pad at wallops island.

Photographer Chris Becca from Williamsburg in Virginia prepared especially thoroughly: "I have received some preliminary information regarding the launch angle of the rocket and the height of the ejection canisters, and the expected range of drift. Using this information, I did some TRIG calculations to predict the desired field of view for shooting steam tracers", he told the portal Space.com.

Early in the morning Becca went to little Creek, located 131 kilometer from the launch site. There he captured a 20-second exposure later, 24 minutes after the start, when the drifting clouds already disappeared from sight.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»