The sounding rocket carrying the Multi-Order Solar EUV Spectrograph, or MOSES-2, instrument is in final testing and preparation for its upcoming launch in late August, 2015. In this photo, the sounding rocket is bolted down for a vibration test, in which the rocket is shaken violently to simulate the normal chaotic vibrations of a launch into space. The rocket and onboard MOSES-2 instrument passed with flying colors, clearing them for launch.
Sounding rockets go for short flights, spending five minutes above Earth’s atmosphere. MOSES-2 gathers images of the sun in extreme ultraviolet light — images that can only be taken from space, since Earth’s atmosphere blocks these wavelengths of light. The MOSES-2 team will use these images, focused on the layer between the sun’s surface and its atmosphere – called the transition region – to study a kind of explosive event similar to those that could contribute to the abnormally high temperatures in the the sun’s atmosphere, the corona.
For more information about NASA’s sounding rockets, visit:
