Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

NASA rocket takes first multi-point look inside radio-disrupting clouds

phys.org · 12dShare

High above Earth, thin veils of metallic haze drift through the edge of space. Known as sporadic E layers, these high-altitude "clouds" form from the vaporized dust of burned-up meteors, earning their name from the unpredictable way they emerge and then dissipate. Now, new results from a NASA sounding rocket—a suborbital research rocket—that flew five detectors through one of these layers simultaneously reveal unexpected complexity in the layer for the first time.

First report: NASA Rocket Takes First Multi-Point Look Inside Radio-Disrupting Clouds — nasa.gov, 12d