• NASA fired three rockets into the northern lights and the results are stunning NASA has successfully launched two sounding rocket missions from Alaska to investigate the powerful electrical forces behind the northern lights. • The Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor and the Geophysical Non-Equilibrium Ionospheric System Science mission, known as GNEISS (pronounced “nice”), both lifted off from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks. • The Black and Diffuse Auroral Science Surveyor launched Feb. • EST) and climbed to about 224 miles (360 kilometers). • Principal investigator Marilia Samara reported that all instruments, including technology demonstrations, performed as planned and that the mission returned high-quality data. • The two-rocket GNEISS mission followed with a dramatic back-to-back launch on Feb.
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