NASA.

• Position: Inside Alaska Business

An experiment to measure nitric oxide in the polar sky was successfully launched on a NASA sounding rocket at 8:45 a.m. EST, Jan. 27, 2017, from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska.

The Polar Night Nitric Oxide experiment, or PolarNOx, was launched on a Black Brant IX sounding rocket to an altitude of nearly 176 miles. Preliminary information shows that good data was collected.

PolarNox was the first of five rockets scheduled for launch between January and March from the Poker Flat Research Range operated by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

PolarNOX was to be followed with the launch of two additional missions that will study the interaction of the solar wind, the magnetosphere, Earth's upper atmosphere and the structure of the resulting aurora. The magnetosphere is the region of Earth's magnetic field where solar energy is stored and processed. The release of this energy drives aurora. The launch window for both...