College in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska — Northwest (North America)
What is This Rocket?
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 17, 2024
1. What is This Rocket? Marker
Behind you is a Black Brant IX sounding rocket. Hundreds of similar rockets have been launched by NASA from the UAF Geophysical Institute's Poker Flat Research Range to study the aurora and near-Earth space. The 50-foot-long (15 meter), two-stage rocket can lift a 500-pound (227 kilogram) payload to a height of 250 miles (400 kilometers).
Sounding rockets go up and come back down in a parabolic trajectory and can fly more than 932 miles (1,500 kilometers) into space. The payload (the part at the top of the rocket containing the scientific instruments) gathers data as it reaches its target altitude. Both the payload and the rocket motors re-enter the atmosphere and land downrange from Poker Flat, where they are recovered.
Three to six weeks before a launch, the team of NASA and university scientists, engineers and technicians comes to Fairbanks and works with the Poker Flat team to prepare their experiments for launch. Many of the teams at Poker Flat Research Range are here to study the aurora borealis, so they may wait for days or weeks until conditions are ideal for the particular mission.
Scientists from the Geophysical
this page online
[Illustration] VARIOUS KINDS of sounding rockets used by NASA, including the Black Brant IX.
Erected by University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Education • Science & Medicine.
Location. 64° 51.538′ N, 147° 50.939′ W. Marker is in College, Alaska, in Fairbanks North Star Borough. It is on North Koyukuk Drive, on the left when traveling west. Marker and rocket are northwest of the Arctic Health Research Building, on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2155 N Koyukuk Dr, Fairbanks AK 99709, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Alaska Railroad Corridor, in the Athabascan Region, and in Interior Alaska. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, the Pacific Rim,
Photographed by William Fischer, Jr., August 17, 2024
2. What is This Rocket? Marker and Rocket
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Only University-Owned Rocket Range in the World (here, next to this marker); What goes up must come down! (here, next to this marker); What is the Aurora? (here, next to this marker); Helga Wilm (within shouting distance of this marker); ASF Corner Reflector (within shouting distance of this marker); Chief Phil Rounds (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Welcome to the UAF Planet Walk! (about 700 feet away); The Middle Kuskokwim River (approx. Ό mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in College.
Regarding What is This Rocket?. The contributor was an enlisted US Air Force weather specialist at Shemya Air Force Base near the end of the Aleutian Islands in the late 1970s and routinely performed data tracking for our unit launches of much smaller Super Loki single-stage solid fuel meteorological rockets. Ours (Detachment 3, 11th Weather Squadron) was at that time the only USAF unit to perform such rocket launches, which apparently ended in the mid-1980s.
Also see . . . A Brief History of Poker Flat (UAF Geophysical Institute). (Submitted on September 8, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 23, 2024. It was originally submitted on September 8, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This page has been viewed 177 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 8, 2024, by William Fischer, Jr. of Reynoldsburg, Ohio.
