SPACE FORCE ROCKET LAUNCH

摘要

The newest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces recently celebrated its paper anniversary (see "The Space Force Turns One," Dec. 2020/Jan. 2021). On March 3, it marked another milestone when it literally lit up the sky with a scientific payload developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory, launched aboard a three-stage Terrier-Terrier-Oriole suborbital rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The launch was conducted to study the ionosphere-the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that contains electrically charged particles and influences the propagation of radio waves. After reaching an altitude of more than 100 miles and around 500 miles offshore, the rocket's payload ejected a small quantity of powdered material, heated and released as a vapor, that created a red glow. The mission was the Force's first sounding rocket launch conducted with California-based Space Vector Corporation, which is part of a $424 million sounding rocket program.