Rocket launchesare a coarse mountain in Florida , but sky - gazers in the Northeast and Mid - Atlantic will have a rarefied hazard to see one from their backyard this week . AsPenn Livereports , NASA ’s Terrier - Improved Malemute rocket could be visible from constituent of Delaware , Maryland , New Jersey , North Carolina , Pennsylvania , Virginia , and West Virginia after it launches Monday night .
The two - stage suborbital sounding rocket is scheduled to lift off fromNASA ’s Wallops Flight Facilityin Virginia between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. eastern daylight prison term ( EDT ) on Monday , March 21 . The launching is part of a mission handle by the Air Force Research Laboratory / Air Force Office of Scientific Research called BOundary Layer Turbulence 2 , or BOLT-2 . The rocket will bring scientific instruments into sub - orbital space , where they will be used to study how heat , drag , and turbulence affect aircraft act at high speeds .
If you subsist around the Chesapeake Bay region , you have a good shot at observing the first seconds of the delegation from your home . In southern Delaware , the southeast seacoast of Maryland , and the northeast coast of Virginia , a bright object streaming through the sky will be visible within 10 second of the take - off time . looker in the quietus of Maryland and Delaware , southern New Jersey , southeastern Pennsylvania , northeast North Carolina , eastern Virginia , and the easternmost sliver of West Virginia will have to hold off 10 to 30 seconds after take - off to descry it .
Space fans who survive outside the profile zone can stream it live from wherever they are . Coverage is scheduled to start on the WallopsYouTube pageat 6:40 p.m. Updates on the launch will be posted to theWallops FacebookandTwitterpages .
defective weather condition could pain your chances of seeing the rocket tonight , and it could possibly ground it altogether . If the launching is delayed due to weather or other issues , it will be reschedule sometime between March 22 and April 1 .
[ h / tPenn Live ]
