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In early 2017, NASA launched sounding rocketsinto auroras to better understand our space environment.

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The rockets were launched from the Poker Flat Research Rangein Alaska, a prime location for spotting auroras.

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Researchers bundled up the rockets to shield them from freezing temperatures.

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Aurorasget their start at the sun,

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which drives changing conditions near Earth.

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Sounding rocketsare ideal for studying auroras because they can fly directly into the region where auroral activity happens,

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a region too high for direct study by scientific balloons and too low for satellites.

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Studying auroras also helps us understand how the sun affects near-Earth space — 

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key information for protecting missions and astronauts beyond our home planet.

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center