Poker Flat Research Range, out at Mile 30 of the Steese Highway, has two sounding rockets ready to go this week. The launch window runs from 9:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. every night from Monday, Oct. 19, through Oct. 23. One NASA mission called DUST will study how cosmic dust forms from material left behind by dying stars, and a University of Colorado Boulder mission called INFUSE will look at the Dumbbell Nebula. Neither one needs clear skies or aurora, so a launch could come any night in the window. Read the full story in the News-Miner.
Our take: this is one of the coolest things about living here. Most towns don't have a rocket range owned by the local university about 30 miles up the road. The rockets reach about 180 miles up and come back down without going into orbit, which is pretty wild for a weeknight. If you want to know when one goes, text PFRRLAUNCHES to 866-485-7614, or watch the live feed on the Poker Flat Facebook page from your couch where it's warm.
The scientists say cosmic dust matters a lot more than the dust on your bookshelf. Fair enough, but the bookshelf kind is the one we actually have to live with. If yours is winning, The Alaska Cleaning Company can take care of it. And with snow in the forecast this week, Good Hand Co. can line up snow removal in Fairbanks so the only thing you're watching at midnight is a rocket.
Photo: sounding rockets on the pads at Poker Flat Research Range in January 2015. By NASA / Jamie Adkins, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.