NASA Hosts Teleconference on Upcoming Launch of Five Rockets

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Mar 05, 2012, 12:17 ET

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va., March 5, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 7, to discuss the upcoming launch of five rockets in slightly more than five minutes from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The rocket launches will be visible from most of the local coastline. The launch window begins March 14 and runs through April 4.

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The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) mission will gather data to help scientists better understand the high-altitude jet stream winds located 60-65 miles above Earth's surface. This region can cause electrical turbulence adversely affecting satellite and radio communications.

The experiment will use a chemical tracer released from each rocket to help observe the winds. The tracers may be visible to the public along the mid-Atlantic region and possibly the northeastern United States.

Participants are:
-- Miguel Larsen, ATREX principal investigator at Clemson University
-- Jack Vieira, ATREX project manager at Wallops Flight Facility

To participate in the media teleconference, journalists must contact Keith Koehler at 757-824-1579 or [email protected] by 3 p.m., Tuesday, March 6.

Audio of the event will be streamed live at:
http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio

Related images and video will be posted at the time of the teleconference at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/missions/atrex.html

SOURCE NASA