NASA Coqui
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The Coqui and Coqui 2 (Coqui Dos) campaign involved a sequence of sounding rocket launches in order to study the dynamics of the E- and F-region ionosphere and increase our understanding of layering phenomena, such as sporadic E layers. The studies were supported by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and carried out in 1992 and 1998 respectively. NASA launched sounding rockets from the Puerto Rican coastal town of Vega Baja, about 20 miles west of San Juan. Among the stated goals were to study how the Earth's ionosphere reacts to naturally-occurring phenomena by artificially simulating these phenomena using a high-frequency (HF) radar and study the ionospheric response with both the Arecibo Observatory ionospheric radar and with instruments and chemical tracers carried aboard the sounding rockets. Local protest groups and environmentalists allege that the tests have caused widespread damage to the local environment, various health problems among the local population, and damaged the ozone layer, specifically through the release of the chemical bromotrifluoride into the upper atmosphere. They also allege that the experiments are a covert military project connected to the development of new weapons and surveillance techniques. NASA denies these claims, for which there is no supporting evidence.
[edit] External links
- NASA official fact sheet on Coqui Dos
- Resource Center of the Americas: NASA Experiments Continue
- Activists Protest US Navy Radar Project
- Long Spark Running: NASA's Coqui Experiments
- NASA's Coqui Experiments: Newsroom
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