Rocket to launch Saturday from Wallops Island

WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) — An upcoming launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore is testing new suborbital rocket technologies.

NASA says the launch is expected to take place between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Saturday. If weather delays the flight, the backup launch days are Sunday and July 2.

The technologies being tested during the launch include a deployment system for forming vapor clouds that help track winds and improvements in telemetry. The launch also will test flight recorders to increase the rates for data collected and transferred during flight.

The Virginian-Pilot reports (http://bit.ly/1nCRiAh) that clouds that will be produced during testing may be seen by mid-Atlantic residents.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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