Shuttle Ozone Tests Get Some Help From Below
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Scientists on both sides of the Atlantic launched ozone-mapping balloons and rockets Thursday as the space shuttle Atlantis and its tag-along satellite soared overhead and made their own survey.
Researchers need the extra insight into Earth’s ozone layer to make sure the information they get from the orbiting spacecraft is correct.
NASA has launched 18 weather balloons and 20 small rockets from Wallops Island, Va., so far for the experiment. The German weather service has sent up 15 ozone-measuring balloons from an observatory in Bavaria. Russian scientists have sent up at least two rockets with atmospheric monitors.
The launches will continue until the six shuttle astronauts retrieve the German satellite Saturday for the trip home on Monday. The crew released the satellite last Friday.
Ozone in the stratosphere protects humans, animals and plants from ultraviolet rays; man-made chemicals are weakening this layer, especially over Antarctica.
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