The purpose of the C-REX-2 experiment was to identify mechanisms responsible for sustaining a region of neutral mass density at 400km altitude that appears to be a permanent feature of the Earth’s cusp-region thermosphere. The mission studied the neutral winds by deploying 16 canisters of mixed Barium (Ba) and Strontium (Sr) tracers and 4 canisters of Tri-Methyl-Aluminum (TMA) west of Svalbard, at altitudes between 350 and 150 km Additional instruments are included to characterize the electrodynamic environment.

The Principal Investigator is Dr. Conde/University of Alaska.

For more on this mission visit: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/science-at-the-cusp-nasa-rocket-to-study-mysterious-area-above-the-north-pole

The Oriole IV is a four stage sounding rocket with a Talos first stage, Terrier second stage, Oriole third stage and a Nihka fourth stage.

Additional sounding rocket vehicles.

The C-REX-2 mission launched from Andoya Space located in Norway, on December 1, 2021.