On 10/8/21, the CLASP2.1 sounding rocket experiment was launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Observing the Sun for more than six minutes, CLASP2.1 measured the linear and circular polarization across several important ultraviolet spectral lines formed in the Sun’s chromosphere. These groundbreaking data enable quantitative measurements of the magnetic field strength at multiple layers within a key layer of the Sun’s dynamic atmosphere. The CLASP2.1 mission PI is David McKenzie (ST13), Deputy PI is Ken Kobayashi (ST13), and the team includes members from ST13, ST14, ST15, ES34, ES52, and other institutions in the U.S., Japan, Spain, France, Korea, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic. The CLASP2.1 instrument was recovered intact from the New Mexico desert, and returned to MSFC for post-flight end-to-end tests.
Read more about CLASP2.1 at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/sounding-rocket-mission-to-offer-snapshot-of-sun-s-magnetic-field.
