BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After postponing the launch for several days, a NASA suborbital sounding rocket is set to launch Tuesday.
The rocket will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, but it is expected to be visible to large portion of the east coast—including Massachusetts.
A four-stage Black Brant XII rocket is slated to launch at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday.
“The mission, called the KiNETic-scale energy and momentum transport eXperiment, or KiNet-X, is designed to study a very fundamental problem in space plasmas, namely, how are energy and momentum transported between different regions of space that are magnetically connected?” a statement on NASA’s website said.
NASA informed that the rocket will release barium vapor that will "form two green-violet clouds that may be visible for about 30 seconds. The barium vapor is not harmful to the environment or public health."
The initial launched were postponed due to "upper level winds not being within the required limits for a safe launch."
A map released by NASA shows that the launch will be visible from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut for between 30 to 60 seconds.
Live coverage of the launch will be streamed beginning at 7:40 p.m.
Follow WBZ NewsRadio: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | iHeartmedia App
(Photo: Getty Images)