NASA fired three rockets into the northern lights and the results are stunning

Two rockets launched just 30 seconds apart into the Alaskan night sky, creating the world's first CT scan of the northern lights. NASA's GNEISS mission fired twin sounding rockets through the same aurora near Fairbanks, each releasing four instruments to map the invisible electrical currents powering these celestial displays.

Scientists have long understood that auroras work like enormous lightbulbs, with electrons streaming down from space to energize atmospheric gases. But unlike a simple circuit, the return journey of these electrons back to space follows scattered, chaotic paths shaped by collisions and shifting magnetic fields.

"It's essentially like doing a CT scan of the plasma beneath the aurora," said Kristina Lynch, the mission's principal investigator at Dartmouth College. The rockets transmitted radio signals through the glowing plasma to ground receivers, revealing how electrical currents spread through the atmosphere.

Understanding these currents matters beyond scientific curiosity. Auroral electricity heats the upper atmosphere and creates turbulence that can damage satellites. A companion mission also investigated mysterious "black auroras," dark patches where electrical currents may suddenly reverse direction, adding another layer to this luminous puzzle overhead.