....just after midnight (EDT) on a science mission that would briefly create a milky white cloud that could have been visible along a large portion of the U.S. east coast. The Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) mission planned to gather information needed to better understand the process responsible for the high-altitude jet stream located 60 to 65 miles above the surface of the Earth.
As part the mission, the sounding rocket launch team at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Virginia, planned to launch five rockets 80 seconds apart, each of which would release a chemical tracer to create clouds allowing scientists and the public to “see” the winds in space. The available launch window opened at midnight and then extended for three hours. A significant criteria for launch to proceed was to possess clear skies not only at Wallops, but also at sites in New Jersey and North Carolina. The initial probability for a launch was less than 10 percent and, as of 00:48:01 EDT, the launch was canceled due to inclement weather. The temporary clouds were to have been visible for as many as 20 minutes by residents from South Carolina to southern New Hampshire and Vermont. A new attempt will be announced shortly by NASA.