Glesener and Savage are gearing up for a mission to gather important information on solar flares. These explosions on the sun release charged particles into space, sometimes causing auroras on Earth or disabling satellites and power grids. The duo is preparing separate rockets equipped with instruments designed to monitor live readings from satellites in orbit around the sun.
On this particular day, there are no significant solar flares predicted, so Glesener and Savage are using the time to address any issues and make adjustments to their equipment. While the weather in Chatanika is sunny, satellite data indicates that there are no major solar flares heading towards Earth.
Despite this, Glesener and Savage are treating today as a practice run for when a real flare occurs. They understand that they will eventually have to make the decision to launch the rockets when the time is right. Solar flares typically last about ten minutes, and once the rockets are launched, they will quickly leave Earth’s atmosphere to get a clearer view of the flares using their telescopes.
The rockets will remain above the dense atmosphere for only five minutes, allowing the instruments to collect valuable data on the solar flares. After this brief observation period, the rockets will descend back to Earth in Alaska, where workers will recover the rocket stages and parachutes using helicopters. Glesener and Savage are focused on gathering the best possible information on solar flares to further our understanding of this natural phenomenon.
