Skywatchers are ready to see a NASA rocket launch over New Jersey

Sky gazers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania may see a mysterious flash in the sky, between Monday night and early Tuesday.

A NASA sounding rocket mission called Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment Plus, or TOMEX+, is now targeting Aug. 25, for its first launch attempt, between 10 p.m. and Tuesday 3 a.m.

It is launching from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia, with a livestream tentatively available on YouTube.

The southern half of New Jersey is expected to have line of sight access between 10 and 30 seconds after launch.

The northern half of the state is expected to have line of sight between 30 and 40 seconds after launch.

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What is a sounding rocket?

A sounding rocket carries scientific instruments into space, in a quick timeframe (five to 20 minutes) and at a lower speed than other rockets.

Their use goes back more than 40 years for NASA.

Sounding rockets are launched from various locations around the world, all carried out by NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

Why is this NASA sounding rocket mission important?

Scientists hope to collect data on the mesopause, which spans part of the upper atmosphere from about 53 to 65 miles in altitude.

It is the coldest layer of our atmosphere, and is where weather patterns “mix” and transfer energy into space, according to NASA experts.

That makes it a priority for research, but reaching it is tough, as it is too high for weather balloons and too low for satellites.

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The TOMEX+ sounding rocket mission has attempted to launch several times this month.

Each time, weather was not cooperative, as there was cloud cover in the launch area.

There was also continued high sea states in the recovery area last week, due to Hurricane Erin.

The window for the mission runs through Sept. 3.

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