Successful Launch of Space Physics Mission

This is to announce that the NASA Wallops Flight Facility,Virginia has launched the KiNET-X mission on a Black Brant XII rocket.The 71.5-foot tall solid fuel rocket with four stages-the Talos, the Terrier, the Black Brant, and the Nika-is built by Magellan Aerospace of Mississauga,Ontario.* The rapid fire launch was similar to a military missile:in the blink of an eye.It took place on the very last night of the launch window.Had it not been launched on 16 May,it would have had to have been rescheduled for later in the year, because the Moon would have been too far above the horizon and blacked out the mission's visual observations in Bermuda.Previous attempts were snakebitten mainly by weather problems with upper level winds at Wallops, and clouds over the Bermuda observation post critical to the mission.There was also a mechanical issue involving possible damage to a rocket motor when the rocket accidentally bumped against its rail, which guides it at launch.The rocket had to be taken down and the motor replaced.* Principal Investigator is Professer Peter Delamere of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Geophysical Institute,which makes aurora forecasts.The study simulated an aurora by making barium clouds over Bermuda.It seeks to better understand the energy transfer process between different regions of space bound togther by a magnetic field.How are the electrons in an aurora energised by the Solar Wind?* Magellan Aerospace (MAL:TSX).