--- title: NASA Rocket Launch Releases Colorful Clouds Across US Coast description: NASA successfully launched a rocket that released colorful clouds of vapor early Thursday morning. Clouds were visable along the East Coast canonical: https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-29T14:25:41.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:22:51.737Z article:section: Science og:title: NASA Rocket Launch Creates Colorful Clouds og:description: The colorful clouds could be seen along the East Coast og:url: https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198a9c0a65730d02/6988d3de8fd2ee7b6b357c83/nasa-wallops-launch-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: 170629_NASA Wallops launch 2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NASA Rocket Launch Creates Colorful Clouds twitter:description: The colorful clouds could be seen along the East Coast twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198a9c0a65730d02/6988d3de8fd2ee7b6b357c83/nasa-wallops-launch-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NASA Rocket Launch Creates Colorful Clouds Seen Across the East Coast > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jun 29, 2017 2:25 PM UTC  A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket was successfully launched at 4:25 a.m., Thursday, June 29, from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket was successfully launched at 4:25 a.m., Thursday, June 29, from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. NASA/Wallops Range Optical Systems Group by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Jun 29, 2017 2:25 PM UTC [NASA](http://time.com/4829968/nasa-dispute-gwyneth-paltrow-goop/) deployed a rocket early Thursday morning that created colorful clouds out of vapor in the Earth’s upper atmosphere over the [East Coast](http://time.com/4700759/storm-stella-snow-blizzard-photos/). Completed at 4:25 a.m. from the Wallops location on Chincoteague Island, Va., NASA successfully launched its Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket — after 11 recent unsuccessful attempts. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA%5FWallops/status/880378852731752448) The launch tested a new multi-canister ejection system used for deploying vapors, according to NASA. The colorful vapors could be seen from [New York](http://www.extracrispy.com/culture/3234/new-york-is-getting-a-shop-dedicated-entirely-to-cream-cheese) to [North Carolina](http://time.com/4830440/north-carolina-new-island/). The blue-green and red artificial clouds, deployed between four and six minutes after take-off, are used to track particle motions in space. The launch tested a new system that helps studies of the ionosphere and aurora. The total flight took eight minutes. > [](https://twitter.com/NASA%5FWallops/status/880406072913260549) The original launch date was May 31, but weather and other conditions delayed the launch several times. Some social media users who caught a glimpse of the colorful display posted photos online. > [](https://twitter.com/BeckePhysics/status/880367921566031872) > [](https://twitter.com/h%5Fjonesphoto/status/880358296846303232) > [](https://twitter.com/rtphokie/status/880414539325612032) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/"},"headline":"NASA Rocket Launch Creates Colorful Clouds Seen Across the East Coast","datePublished":"2017-06-29T14:25:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:22:51.737Z","description":"The colorful clouds could be seen along the East Coast","url":"https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/","keywords":["Space","NASA","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198a9c0a65730d02/6988d3de8fd2ee7b6b357c83/nasa-wallops-launch-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt198a9c0a65730d02/6988d3de8fd2ee7b6b357c83/nasa-wallops-launch-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"170629_NASA Wallops launch 2","caption":"A NASA Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket was successfully launched at 4:25 a.m., Thursday, June 29, from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.","creditText":"NASA/Wallops Range Optical Systems Group","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4838850/nasa-rocket-launch-creates-colorful-clouds-seen-across-the-east-coast/","name":"NASA Rocket Launch Creates Colorful Clouds Seen Across the East Coast"}}]}] ```