Hampton U, NASA Satellite to Explore Space Ice Clouds
HAMPTON, VA, April 13, 2007 - Satnews Daily - NASA’s “Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM)” mission led by Hampton University is to launch April 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California via a Pegasus XL launch vehicle.
AIM will determine why polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) form and why they vary. Polar mesospheric clouds are also called "noctilucent," or night shining, clouds. This is NASA’s first mission dedicated to exploring these unique and mysterious clouds, said Dr. James Russell, III, AIM’s principal investigator. Russell is professor and co-director of Hampton University’s Center for Atmospheric Sciences.
"The occurrence of these clouds at the edge of space and what causes them to vary is not understood," said Russell. “AIM will provide the comprehensive data needed to confirm current theories for cloud formation or develop new ones and allow researchers to build computer simulations that reproduce the observed changes in these clouds."
PMCs, which form in the Polar Regions, are being seen at lower latitudes than ever before, and have recently grown brighter and more frequent, suggesting a connection to global change. They are normally observed at altitudes of 50 miles above the Earth's surface on the edge of space in the coldest place in our atmosphere.
By measuring PMCs and the thermal, chemical and dynamical environment in which they form, the connection between these clouds and the meteorology of the polar mesosphere will be better understood. In the end, this will provide the basis for study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global change.
Hampton University is the first Historically Black College and University to have total mission responsibility for a NASA satellite mission.
“Hampton University is leading the way in innovative research and our faculty’s outstanding leadership and excellence is being recognized not just within the scientific community, but all over the world,” said HU President Dr. William R. Harvey.
Under Russell’s direction, Hampton University is responsible for the entire mission including hardware, software, flight operations, science team leadership, science data collection, reporting, data archival for use by the scientific community, and education and public outreach. Assisting Russell is an international science team and HU faculty, staff and students.
