NASA Rocket Launch Paints Night Sky Red (Photos)

NASA Sounding Rocket at Wallops

NASA scientists work on a sounding rocket slated to launch on Jan. 29, 2013, to create potentially dazzlingly bright red streaks in the night sky over the U.S. East Coast. The mission will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

NASA Launches Sounding Rocket: Jan. 29, 2013

A NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket launches toward space on a mission to create glowing red clouds above Earth on Jan. 29, 2013. The rocket launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

NASA Launches Sounding Rocket: Jan. 29, 2013

A NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket launches toward space on a mission to create glowing red clouds above Earth on Jan. 29, 2013. The rocket launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

NASA Sounding Rocket: Liftoff from Wallops!

A small NASA rocket launches into suborbital space from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., in this video still from the Jan. 29, 2013 liftoff. The rocket released red lithium vapor in space to light up the night sky in a technology test.

NASA Sounding Rocket Set to Launch

A NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket stands poised to launch from its rail at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Jan. 29, 2013. The rocket was designed to deploy a bright red lithium vapor as a test for future missions.

NASA Sounding Rocket: Inside Launch Control

This image shows a look inside the Wallops Flight Facility Launch Control for a sounding rocket launch on Jan. 29, 2013, from Wallops Island, Va.

Wispy Launch Pad at NASA's Wallops

Smoke wisps around the launch rail at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia after the successful launch of a sounding rocket that lit up the night sky with red lithium vapor in a technology test on Jan. 29, 2013.

Visibility Map of Jan. 29, 2013, Sounding Rocket Launch

This NASA map shows the visibility range for the planned Jan. 29 launch of a sounding rocket designed to release glowing red vapor trails in the night sky as part of an atmospheric experiment.