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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Polar NOx Set to Launch by Virginia Tech

The Polar Night Nitric Oxide experiment will be launched on a suborbital flight aboard a NASA Black Brant IX sounding rocket. The launch is scheduled for no earlier than January 30, 2011 from the Poker Flats, Alaska launch facilities.

The Black Brant IX vehicle is a two-stage, solid propellant, four-fin stabilized sounding rocket. It is predicted to fly to an altitude of approximately 173 miles and is being readied with the assistance of NASA Wallops Flight Facility team.

Scott Bailey, assistant professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech, is leading the experiment called "Polar NOx." The experiment is designed to measure the intensity of nitric oxide in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere in the polar region.

Nitric oxide is believed to be a catalyst destroyer of ozone. Successful data acquisition will help scientists understand the abundance of nitric oxide in the lower thermosphere and its relationship to solar energy deposition.

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