WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. (AP) - A rocket set to be launched from Virginia's Wallops Island Flight Facility will study how the first galaxy was formed.
NASA says the Black Brant XII suborbital rocket carrying the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment - or CIBER - is scheduled to be launched June 4.
CIBER will study when the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe and how brightly they burned their nuclear fuel. CIBER principal investigator Jamie Bock says the experiment is of "fundamental importance to astrophysics."
It will be the fourth flight for CIBER on a NASA rocket, with previous launches from New Mexico. This one will fly on a larger and more powerful rocket that should allow it to reach a higher altitude.
The rocket may be visible to residents in the mid-Atlantic region.