Poker Flat Anticipation: Waiting for the Sun – Alaska Science Forum

Glesener and Savage are preparing separate rockets to carry instruments designed to gather important information about solar flares. Solar flares are explosions on the Sun that release charged particles into space, sometimes causing auroras on Earth or disabling satellites and power grids. While monitoring live readings from satellites in orbit around the sun, Glesener and Savage wait for a large solar flare to erupt before launching their rockets. However, no significant rockets are predicted on this particular day, so they are using the time to address any issues and adjust their equipment.

While the weather in Čatanica is sunny, satellite data shows that there are no major solar flares in the direction of the Earth. Even so, Glesener and Savage treat today as a practice for when the real explosion occurs. They realize that eventually they will have to make a decision about launching missiles when the time comes. Solar flares usually last about ten minutes, and once the rockets are launched, they will quickly leave Earth's atmosphere to get a clearer view of the flares using their telescopes.

The rockets will stay above the dense atmosphere for just five minutes, allowing instruments to collect valuable data on solar flares. After this short observation period, the rockets will come down to Earth in Alaska, where workers will recover the rocket stages and parachutes by helicopter. Glessener and Savage are focused on gathering the best possible information about solar flares to advance our understanding of this natural phenomenon.