Ready for Liftoff

NASA/Jamie Adkins

In 2015, NASA is launching a series of small suborbital rockets, called sounding rockets, to study the Earth and space. See photos of these sounding rocket launches, which are overseen by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, in our gallery here. HERE: ive rockets await launch from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. One was carrying the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment (MTeX), Mesospheric Inversion-layer Stratified Turbulence (MIST) mission, and the other four supported the Auroral Spatial Structures Probe (ASSP) mission. Image released Jan. 20, 2015.

I Shot an Arrow Into the Sky

NASA/Jamie Adkins

A test rocket soars to test the tracking systems at Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska. The northern lights and star trails in this long exposure view offer a dazzling sight. Image released Jan. 20, 2015.

Oriole VI Takes Flight

NASA/Jamie Adkins

A time-lapse photo shows the firing of all four stages of the NASA Oriole IV sounding rocket carrying the Aural Spatial Structures Probe, with an aurora glowing over Alaska on Jan. 28, 2015.

Blastoff!

NASA/Lee Wingfield

A NASA Oriole IV sounding rocket carrying the Aural Spatial Structures Probe lifts off from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, on Jan. 28, 2015.

A Spectactular Sight

NASA/Jamie Adkins

This 30-second exposures make up a composite shot of four different rockets launching for the M-TeX and MIST experiments. The rocket salvo occurred on Jan. 26, 2015, at the Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska.

Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment

NASA/Berit Bland

A worker prepares the Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere Turbulence Experiment (MTeX) for vibration testing at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Image released Jan. 13, 2015.

Auroral Spatial Structures Probe

ASA/Berit Bland

The Auroral Spatial Structures Probe (ASSP) is tested at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. Image released Jan. 13, 2015.

Auroral Spatial Structures Probe Integration

NASA/Jamie Adkins

The Auroral Spatial Structures Probe (ASSP) undergoes integration at the Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska. Image released Jan. 13, 2015.