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  • Unmanned aircraft map northern wildfires

    Staff from Poker Flat Research Range have traveled north to assist fire personnel in mapping Interior Alaska's Crazy Mountain Complex fires with unmanned aircraft. The team is stationed at Mile 145 of the Steese Highway, between Circle and Central, which are communities near the Yukon River. They have been deploying the aircraft since Aug. 5. The mapping operation is using 40-pound Insitu ScanEagles equipped with infrared cameras. The aircraft have collected data that has allowed fire personnel to track the progression of fires and current hot spots.

  • Clemson scientists launch rockets to test atmospheric conditions

    Clemson University space physicists have traveled around the world to launch rockets to test atmospheric conditions. This shows the fourth launch of a rocket at Poker Flat Research Range. Scientists most recently launched a salvo of four rockets over Alaska to study turbulence in the upper atmosphere. The launches took place at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks as part of a NASA sounding rocket campaign.

  • Four rockets launch from Poker Flat Research Range

    Four NASA rockets launched from Poker Flat Research Range during a three-hour span on the morning of Feb. 18, 2009. The rockets, carrying payloads that emitted glowing vapor trails that help scientists study turbulence in the upper atmosphere, launched at 12:59 a.m., 1:29 a.m., 1:59 a.m., and 2:49 a.m. Alaska Standard Time. The whitish trails, some resembling corkscrews in the sky, were visible in many parts of interior and northern Alaska.

  • Two rockets fly through auroral arc

    After days of waiting for precise aurora conditions, a team from the University of Iowa finally saw the launch of its two scientific sounding rockets from Poker Flat Research Range. The NASA rockets launched Jan. 29, just before 1 a.m. Alaska Standard Time, and flew through an auroral curtain, collecting data throughout their flights.

  • Busy rocket season to launch at Poker Flat Research Range

    A total of eight National Aeronautics and Space Administration sounding rockets will launch from Poker Flat Research Range in 2009. The rocket season is split into two launch windows. The first launch window opens Jan. 10, and will remain open until Feb. 5, 2009.

    The first window will see the launch of three rockets as part of two separate missions. One mission will aid scientists' study of the ionosphere, while the other will gather data on the structure of auroral arcs.

  • Alaska Space Grant program launches B.E.A.R.

    The Alaska Space Grant Program and the Arctic Amateur Radio Club formed the Balloon Experiment And Research Program—or B.E.A.R. for short—in December 2007. The program's aim was to launch a high altitude balloon equipped with two amateur radio signals and more from Poker Flat Research Range in the spring of 2008. On May 10, BEAR participants met to inflate and launch their first balloon. It flew as high as 95,327 feet above Fairbanks in three hours, capturing more than 100 photos and video during its flight.

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