This article is part of the series: The Radiation Database: HAARP Research HQ

Please read THE BIRTH OF HAARP before proceeding

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I found this excellent article on the history and evolution of upper atmosphere research and weapons of mass destruction.  The article is text only, with no links, so for your viewing pleasure, I will animate this history with pictures and links.  Anything in a block quote or in italics was added Enjoy!

“Background on the HAARP Project“

By Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D., GNSH,
November 5, 1996

Table of Contents:
Project Argus (1958)
Project Starfish (1962)
SPS: Solar Power Satellite Project (1968)
Saturn V Rocket (1975)
SPS Military Implications (1978)
Orbit Maneuvering System (1981)
Innovative Shuttle Experiments (1985)
Mighty Oaks (1986)
Desert Storm (1991)
High Frequency Active Auroral Research
Program HAARP (1993)
Poker Flat Rocket Launch (1968 to Present)
Conclusions
Further References

Military interest in space became intense during and after World War II
because of the introduction of rocket science, the companion to nuclear
technology. The early versions include the buzz bomb and guided missiles.
They were thought of as potential carriers of both nuclear and conventional
bombs.

Rocket technology and nuclear weapon technology developed simultaneously
between 1945 and 1963. During this time of intensive atmospheric nuclear
testing, explosions at various levels above and below the surface of the
earth were tried. Some of the now familiar descriptions of the earth’s
protective atmosphere, such as the existence of the Van Allen belts, were
based on information gained through stratospheric and ionospheric
experimentation.

The earth’s atmosphere consists of the troposphere, from sea level to about
16 km above the earth’s surface; the stratosphere (which contains the ozone
level) which extends from about the 16 to 48 km above the earth; and the
ionosphere which extends from 48 km to over 50,000 km above the surface of
the earth.

The earth’s protective atmosphere or “skin” extends beyond 3,200 km above
sea level to the large magnetic fields, called the Van Allen Belts, which
can capture the charged particles sprayed through the cosmos by the solar
and galactic winds. These belts were discovered in 1958 during the first
weeks of the operation of America’s first satellite, Explorer I. They
appear to contain charged particles trapped in the earth’s gravity and
magnetic fields. Primary galactic cosmic rays enter the solar system from
interstellar space, and are made up of protons with energies above 100 MeV,
extending up to astronomically high energies. They make up about 10% of the
high energy rays. Solar rays are generally of lower energy, below 20 MeV
(which is still high energy in earth terms). These high energy particles
are affected by the earth’s magnetic field and by geomagnetic latitude
(distance above or below the geomagnetic equator). The flux density of low
energy protons at the top of the atmosphere is normally greater at the
poles than at the equator. The density also varies with solar activity, a
minimum when solar flares are at a maximum.

The Van Allen belts capture charged particles (protons, electrons and alpha
particles) and these spiral along the magnetic force lines toward the polar
regions where the force lines converge. They are reflected back and forth
between the magnetic force lines near the poles. The lower Van Allen Belt
is about 7700 km above the earth’s surface, and the outer Van Allen Belt is
about 51,500 km above the surface. According to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, the Van Allen belts are most intense along the equator, and
effectively absent over the poles. They dip to 400 km over the South
Atlantic Ocean, and are about 1,000 km high over the Central Pacific Ocean.
In the lower Van Allen Belt, the proton intensity is about 20,000 particles
with energy above 30 MeV per second per square centimetre. Electrons reach
a maximum energy of 1 MeV, and their intensity has a maximum of 100 million
per second per square centimetre. In the outer Belt, proton energy averages
only 1 MeV. For comparison, most charged particles discharged in a nuclear
explosion are range between 0.3 and 3 MeV, while diagnostic medical X-ray
has peak voltage around 0.5 MeV.

Project Argus (1958)

Between August and September 1958, the US Navy exploded three fission type
nuclear bombs 480 km above the South Atlantic Ocean, in the part of the
lower Van Allen Belt closest to the earth’s surface. In addition, two
hydrogen bombs were detonated 160 km over Johnston Island in the Pacific.
This was called, by the military, “the biggest scientific experiment ever
undertaken”. It was designed by the US Department of Defence and the US
Atomic Energy Commission, under the code name Project Argus. The purpose
appears to be to assess the impact of high altitude nuclear explosions on
radio transmission and radar operations because of the electro-magnetic
pulse (EMP), and to increase understanding of the geomagnetic field and the
behaviour of the charged particles in it.

This gigantic experiment created new (inner) magnetic radiation belts
encompassing almost the whole earth, and injected sufficient electrons and
other energetic particles into the ionosphere to cause world wide effects.
The electrons travelled back and forth along magnetic force lines, causing
an artificial “aurora” when striking the atmosphere near the North Pole.

US Military planed to create a “telecommunications shield” in the
ionosphere, reported in 13-20 August 1961, Keesings Historisch Archief
(K.H.A.). This shield would be created “in the ionosphere at 3,000 km
height, by bringing into orbit 350,000 million copper needles, each 2-4 cm
long (total weight 16 kg), forming a belt 10 km thick and 40 km wide, the
needles spaced about 100 m apart.” This was designed to replace the
ionosphere “because telecommunications are impaired by magnetic storms and
solar flares”. The US planned to add to the number of copper needles if the
experiment proved to be successful. This plan was strongly opposed by the
International Union of Astronomers.

Project Starfish (1962)

On 9 July 1962, the US began a further series of experiments with the
ionosphere. From their description: “one kiloton device, at a height of 60
km and one megaton and one multi-megaton, at several hundred kilometres
height” (K.H.A., 29 June 1962). These tests seriously disturbed the lower
Van Allen Belt, substantially altering its shape and intensity. “In this
experiment the inner Van Allen Belt will be practically destroyed for a
period of time; particles from the Belt will be transported to the
atmosphere. It is anticipated that the earth’s magnetic field will be
disturbed over long distances for several hours, preventing radio
communication. The explosion in the inner radiation belt will create an
artificial dome of polar light that will be visible from Los
Angeles.”(K.H.A. 11 May 1962). A Fijian Sailor, present at this nuclear
explosion told me that the whole sky was on fire and he thought it would be
the end of the world. This was the experiment which called forth the strong
protest of the Queen’s Astronomer, Sir Martin Ryle in the UK.

“The ionosphere (according to the understanding at that time) that part of
the atmosphere between 65 and 80 km and 280-320 km height, will be
disrupted by mechanical forces caused by the pressure wave following the
explosion. At the same time, large quantities of ionizing radiation will be
released, further ionizing the gaseous components of the atmosphere at this
height. This ionization effect is strengthened by the radiation from the
fission products. . . . The lower Van Allen Belt, consisting of charged
particles that move along the geomagnetic field lines . . . will similarly be
disrupted. As a result of the explosion, this field will be locally
destroyed, while countless new electrons will be introduced into the lower
belt.” (K.H.A. 11 May 1962)

“On 19 July . . . NASA announced that as a consequence of the high altitude
nuclear test of July 9, a new radiation belt had been formed, stretching
from a height of about 400 km to 1600 km; it can be seen as a temporary
extension of the lower Van Allen Belt.” (K.H.A. 5 August 1962)

As explained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica: “Starfish made a much
wider belt (than Project Argus) that extends from low altitude out past L=3
(i.e. three earth radiuses or about 13,000 km above the surface of the
earth)” Later in 1962, the USSR undertook similar planetary experiments,
creating three new radiation belts between 7,000 and 13,000 km above the
earth. According to the Encyclopaedia, the electron fluxes in the lower Van
Allen Belt have changed markedly since the 1962 high-altitude nuclear
explosions by the US and USSR, never returning to their former state.
According to American scientists, it could take many hundreds of years for
the Van Allen Belts to restabilise at their normal levels.

(Research done by: Nigel Harle, Borderland Archives, Cortenbachstraat 32,
6136 CH Sittard, Netherlands.)

SPS: Solar Power Satellite Project (1968)

In 1968 the US military proposed Solar Powered Satellites in geostationary
orbit some 40,000 km above the earth, which would intercept solar radiation
using solar cells on satellites and transmit it via a microwave beam to
receiving antennas, called rectennas, on earth. The US Congress mandated
the Department of Energy and NASA to prepare an Environmental Impact
Assessment on this project, to be completed by June 1980, and costing $25
Million. This project was designed to construct 60 Solar Powered Satellites
over a thirty year period at a cost between $500 and $800 thousand million
(in 1968 dollars), providing 10% of the US energy needs in the year 2025 at
a cost of $3000 per kW. At that time, the project cost was two to three
times larger than the whole Department of Energy budget, and the projected
cost of the electricity was well above the cost of most conventional energy
sources. The rectenna sites on earth were expected to take up to 145 square
kilometres of land, and would preclude habitation by any humans, animals or
even vegetation. Each Satellite was to be the size of Manhattan Island.

Saturn V Rocket (1975)

Due to a malfunction, the Saturn V Rocket burned unusually high in the
atmosphere, above 300 km. This burn produced “a large ionospheric hole”
(Mendillo, M. Et al., Science 187,343, 1975). The disturbance reduced the
total electron content more than 60% over an area 1,000 km in radius, and
lasted for several hours. It prevented all telecommunications over a large
area of the Atlantic Ocean. The phenomenon was apparently caused by a
reaction between the exhaust gases and ionospheric oxygen ions. The
reaction emitted a 6300 A airglow. Between 1975 and 1981 NASA and the US
Military began to design ways to test this new phenomena through deliberate
experimentation with the ionosphere.

See: PROBING OF THE ARTIFICIAL HOLE IN THE IONOSPHERE WITH THE HF SKYWAVE RADAR a445929 They let China’s CRIRP do these tests, irony. Source: DTIC.mil

SPS Military Implications (1978)

PDF mirror Satellite Power System (SPS) Military Implications

Early review of the Solar Powered Satellite Project began in around 1978,
and I was on the review panel. Although this was proposed as an energy
program, it had significant military implications. One of the most
significant, first pointed out by Michael J. Ozeroff, was the possibility
of developing a satellite borne beam weapon for anti-ballistic missile
(ABM) use. The satellites were to be in geosynchronous orbits, each
providing an excellent vantage point from which an entire hemisphere can be
surveyed continuously. It was speculated that a high energy laser beam
could function as a thermal weapon to disable or destroy enemy missiles.
There was some discussion of electron weapon beams, through the use of a
laser beam to preheat a path for the following electron beam.

Here is an artist’s concept of what beaming all that energy down to the ground looks like:Source: DeathRaytheorp  (Death Raytheon Corporation?) on www.propagation.gatech.edu

The SPS was also described as a psychological and anti-personnel weapon,
which could be directed toward an enemy. If the main microwave beam was
redirected away from its rectenna, toward enemy personnel, it could use an
infrared radiation wavelength (invisible) as an anti-personnel weapon. It
might also be possible to transmit high enough energy to ignite combustible
materials. Laser beam power relays could be made from the SPS satellite to
other satellites or platforms, for example aircraft, for military purposes.
One application might be a laser powered turbofan engine which would
receive the laser beam directly in its combustion chamber, producing the
required high temperature gas for its cruising operation. This would allow
unlimited on-station cruise time. As a psychological weapon, the SPS was
capable of causing general panic.

The SPS would be able to transmit power to remote military operations
anywhere needed on earth. The manned platform of the SPS would provide
surveillance and early warning capability, and ELF linkage to submarines.
It would also provide the capability of jamming enemy communications. The
potential for jamming and creating communications is significant. The SPS
was also capable of causing physical changes in the ionosphere.

Climatological and heating effects of the microwave power trans­mission system in the lower atmosphere.

Between 60 and 500 km, the atmosphere is subject to modification from rocket thruster effluents and from oblation materials generated upon vehicle reentry. The major effects appear to occur in the ionospheric F2 region, resulting primarily in enhanced airglow. While not posing any threat to safety at ground level, it may affect planetside optical sensing devices. Beyond 500 km, the effects are related to heavy ion concentration due to rocket effluents, and to electric and magnetic fields generated by the orbiting SPS. These potential problems are not well understood and require further study. Because of deficiencies in our understanding of the physical and chemical processes above 40 or 50 km, especially with regard to water budget, there is a large uncertainty connected with any prediction. However, climatic effects that may arise from SPS-related perturbations in stratospheric and meso­spheric composition are not expected to be highly significant (U.S. DOE, 1978a).
Source: HYDROGEN ENERGY PROGRESS
Proceedings of the 3rd World Hydrogen Energy Conference

President Carter approved the SPS Project and gave it a go-ahead, in spite
of the reservation which many reviewers, myself included, expressed.
Fortunately, it was so expensive, exceeding the entire Department of Energy
budget, that funding was denied by the Congress. I approached the United
Nations Committee on Disarmament on this project, but was told that as long
as the program was called Solar Energy by the United States, it could not
be considered a weapons project. The same project resurfaced in the US
under President Reagan, moved to the much larger budget of the Department
of Defence, and called Star Wars. Since this is more recent history, I will
not discuss the debate which raged over this phase of the plan.

By 1978, it was apparent to the US Military that communications in a
nuclear hostile environment would not be possible using traditional methods
of radio and television technology (Jane’s Military Communications 1978).
By 1982, GTE Sylvania (Needham Heights, Massachusetts), had developed a
command control electronic sub-system for the US Air Force’s Ground Launch
Cruise Missiles (GLCM) that would enable military commanders to monitor and
control the missile prior to launch both in hostile and non-hostile
environments. The system contains six radio subsystems, created with
visible light using a dark beam (not visible), resistant to the disruptions
experienced by radio and television. Dark beams contribute to the formation
of energetic plasma in the atmosphere. This plasma can become visible as
smog or fog. Some has a different charge than the sun’s energy, and
accumulates in places where the sun’s energy is absent, like the polar
regions in the winter. When the polar spring occurs, the sun appears and
repels this plasma, contributing to holes in the ozone layer. This military
system is called: Ground Wave Emergency Network (GWEN). (See The SECOM II
Communication System, by Wayne Olsen, SAND 78-0391, Sandia Laboratories,
Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 1978). This innovative emergency radio
system was apparently never implimented in Europe, and exists only in North
America.

Orbit Maneuvering System (1981)

Part of the plan to build the SPS space platforms was the demand for
reusable space shuttles, since they could not afford to keep discarding
rockets. The NASA Spacelab 3 Mission of the Space Shuttle made, in 1981, “a
series of passes over a network of five ground based observatories” in
order to study what happened to the ionosphere when the Shuttle injected
gases into it from the Orbit Maneuvering System (OMS). They discovered that
they could “induce ionospheric holes”, and began to experiment with holes
made in the day time, or at night over Millstone, Connecticut, and Arecibo,
Puerto Rico. They experimented with the effects of “artificially induced
ionospheric depletions on very low frequency wave lengths, on equatorial
plasma instabilities, and on low frequency radio astronomical observations
over Roberval, Quebec, Kwajelein, in the Marshall Islands and Hobart,
Tasmania. (Advanced Space Research, Vol.8, No. 1, 1988)

Innovative Shuttle Experiments (1985)

An innovative use of the Space Shuttle to preform space physics experiments
in earth orbit was launched, using the OMS injections of gases to “cause a
sudden depletion in the local plasma concentration, the creation of a
so-called ionospheric hole”. This artificially induced plasma depletion can
then be used to investigate other space phenomena, such as the growth of
the plasma instabilities or the modification of radio propagation paths.
The 47 second OMS burn of July 29,1985, produced the largest and most
long-lived ionospheric hole to date, dumping some 830 kg of exhaust into
the ionosphere at sunset. A 6 second, 68 km OMS release above Connecticut
in August 1985, produced an airglow which covered over 400,000 square km.

During the 1980′s rocket launches globally numbered about 500 to 600 a
year, peaking at 1500 in 1989. There were many more during the Gulf War.
The Shuttle is the largest of the solid fuel rockets, with twin 45 metre
boosters. All solid fuel rockets release large amounts of hydrochloric acid
in their exhaust, each Shuttle flight injecting about 75 tonnes of ozone
destroying chlorine into the stratosphere. Those launched since 1992 inject
even more ozone destroying chlorine, about 187 tonnes, into the
stratosphere (which contains the ozone layer).

“An example of acid rain that is principally due to hydrochloric acid occurs in Cape Canaveral, Florida when a space shuttle is launched. The space shuttle has two solid rocket boosters that operate for the first two minutes of flight to provide the additional thrust needed for the shuttle to escape the gravitational pull of the earth. The incredible amount of energy comes from the oxidation of aluminum to alumina by ammonium perchlorate. This reaction produces about 60 tons of HCl close enough to the ground to cause severe environmental damage in areas within 20 miles of the launch site.”

“Every launch the shuttle uses 1.1 million pounds of solid fuel propellant costing 1.72 million dollars. This solid propellant is 70% ammonium perchlorate (oxidizer), 16% aluminum powder, 12% polybutadiene acrylic acid acrylo nitrite as a complex polymeric binder, 2% epoxy curing agent and 0.17% iron oxide powder as a catalyst.”

Source: www.chem.uic.edu

Also read: Popular Mechanics: How to Make an Environmentally Friendly Rocket Fuel

Mighty Oaks (1986)

PDF Mirror: Off-Site Monitoring for the Mighty Oak Nuclear Test

In April 1986, just before the Chernobyl disaster, the US had a failed
hydrogen test at the Nevada Test Site called Mighty Oaks. This test,
conducted far underground, consisted of a hydrogen bomb explosion in one
chamber, with a leaded steel door to the chamber, two metres thick, closing
within milliseconds of the blast. The door was to allow only the first
radioactive beam to escape into the “control room” in which expensive
instrumentation was located. The radiation was to be captured as a weapon
beam. The door failed to close as quickly as planned, causing the
radioactive gases and debris to fill the control room, destroying millions
of dollars worth of equipment. The experiment was part of a program to
develop X-ray and particle beam weapons. The radioactive releases from
Mighty Oaks were vented, under a “licensed venting”, and were likely
responsible for many of the North American nuclear fallout reports in May
1986, which were attributed to the Chernobyl disaster.

PDF Mirror: Mighty Oak Nevade Test Site Special Exposure Cohort Petition source: cdc.gov

Desert Storm (1991)

According to Defence News, April 13 – 19, 1992, the US deployed an
electromagnetic pulse weapon (EMP) in Desert Storm, designed to mimic the
flash of electricity from a nuclear bomb. The Sandia National Laboratory
had built a 23,000 square metre laboratory on the Kirkland Air Force Base,
1989, to house the Hermes III electron beam generator capable of producing
20 Trillion Watt pulses lasting 20 billionths to 25 billionths of a second.
This X-ray simulator is called a Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator. A stream
of electrons hitting a metal plate can produce a pulsed X-ray or gamma ray.
Hermes II had produced electron beams since 1974. These devises were
apparently tested during the Gulf War, although detailed information on
them is sparse.

On SPUR and the ACRR:

“Odd facility 1 is a 2-reactor facility; I spent a week there while I worked for the lab. The inner facility is the SPUR, Sandia Pulse reactor. Plates of enriched uranium, basically, with a negative temperature coefficient. It´s used to irradiate military stuff (or used to be, I have no idea when it was last used) as a simulation of an atomic explosion. According to the people who had been there a while, when SPUR fired you could be in the parking lot on the left with your eyes closed, and the blue flashes you´d see were fast neutrons zipping through your eyeballs. Nice, eh? Anyway, SPUR uses ´weapons grade´ material, thus the safeguards. None of this was classified when I was there, by the way. The other area inside the main fence is ACRR, (Annular core research reactor), a 2MW toy reactor used for various tests. We used it to play with diffractive optics; fun project. There´s also GIF, the gamma irradiation facility, inside the same building. Amusingly, the office building on the left was a minor scandal at the time; major cost overruns.”

Source: Wikimapia author unknown

Sandia’s Annular Core Research Reactor conducts 10,000th operation

10,000th cycle of the Annular Core Research Reactor

Last November, the pulsed-power Particle Beam Fusion Accelerator Z-pinch configuration (PBFA-Z) produced 1.8 megajoules (mj) of energy — the same energy level that NIF theoretically would produce.

The PBFA-Z’s X-ray power peaked at more than 160 trillion watts, prompting a Sandia newsletter to report that the powerful “shots” could “provide data for computer simulations used to predict the physics within, and effect of, a nuclear blast.”

Source: thefreelibrary.com

Also see

ATLAS-I TRESTLE EMP Test Facility

Radiation Hardening

High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program HAARP (1993)

The HAARP Program is jointly managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy,
and is based in Gakona, Alaska. It is designed to “understand, simulate and
control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of
communication and surveillance systems”. The HAARP system intends to beam
3.6 Gigawatts of effective radiated power of high frequency radio energy
into the ionosphere in order to:

• generate extremely low frequency (ELF) waves for communicating with
  submerged submarines,
• conduct geophysical probes to identify and characterize natural
  ionospheric processes so that techniques can be developed to mitigate or
  control them,
• generate ionospheric lenses to focus large amounts of high frequency (HF)
  energy, thus providing a means of triggering ionospheric processes that
  potentially could be exploited for Department of Defence purposes,
• electron acceleration for infrared (IR) and other optical emissions which
  could be used to control radio wave propagation properties,
• generate geomagnetic field aligned ionization to control the
  reflection\scattering properties of radio waves,
• use oblique heating to produce effects on radio wave propagation, thus
  broadening the potential military applications of ionospheric enhancement
  technology.

Poker Flat Rocket Launch (1968 to Present)

The Pocker Flat Research Range is located about 50 km North of Fairbanks,
Alaska, and it was established in 1968. It is operated by the Geophysical
Institute with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, under NASA contract.
About 250 major rocket launches have taken place from this site, and in
1994, a 16 metre long rocket was launched to help NASA “understand chemical
reactions in the atmosphere associated with global climate change”. Similar
experiments, but using Chemical Release Modules (CRM) have been launched
from Churchill, Manitoba. In 1980, Brian Whelan’s “Project Waterhole“,
disrupted an aurora borealis, bringing it to a temporary halt. In February
1983, the chemical released into the ionosphere caused an aurora borealis
over Churchill. In March 1989, two Black Brant X’s and two Nike Orions
rockets were launched over Canada, releasing barium at high altitudes and
creating artificial clouds. These Churchill artificial clouds were observed
from as far away as Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The US Navy has also been carrying on High Power Auroral Stimulation
(HIPAS) research in Alaska. Through a series of wires and a 15 meter
antenna, they have beamed high intensity signals into the upper atmosphere,
generating a controlled disturbance in the ionosphere. As early as 1992,
the Navy talked of creating 10 kilometer long antennas in the sky to
generate extremely low frequency (ELF) waves needed for communicating with
submarines.

Another purpose of these experiments is to study the Aurora
Borealis, called by some an outdoor plasma lab for studying the principles
of fusion. Shuttle flights are now able to generate auroras with an
electron beam. On November 10, 1991, and aurora borealis appeared in the
Texas sky for the first time ever recorded, and it was seen by people as
far away as Ohio and Utah, Nebraska and Missouri. The sky was “Christmas
colours”, and various scientists were quick to blame it on solar activity.
However, when pressed most would admit that the ionosphere must have been
weakened at the time, so that the electrically charged particle hitting the
earth’s atmosphere created the highly visible light called airglow. These
charged particles are normally pulled northwards by the earths magnetic
forces, to the magnetic north pole. The Northern Lights, as the aurora
borealis is called, normally occurs in the vortex at the pole where the
energetic particles, directed by the magnetic force lines, are directed.

Conclusions

It would be rash to assume that HAARP is an isolated experiment which would
not be expanded. It is related to fifty years of intensive and increasingly
destructive programs to understand and control the upper atmosphere.

It would be rash not to associate HAARP with the space laboratory
construction which is separately being planned by the United States. HAARP
is an integral part of a long history of space research and development of
a deliberate military nature.

The military implications of combining these projects is alarming.

Basic to this project is control of communications, both disruption and
reliability in hostile environments. The power wielded by such control is
obvious.

The ability of the HAARP / Spacelab/ rocket combination to deliver a very
large amount of energy, comparable to a nuclear bomb, anywhere on earth via
laser and particle beams, are frightening.

The project is likely to be “sold” to the public as a space shield against
incoming weapons, or , for the more gullible, a devise for repairing the
ozone layer.

Not mentioned in the original article but worth noting:

PDF MIRROR – The Charged Aerosol Release Experiment (CARE) – NASA

Objectives of CARE Program

• Artificial Noctilucent Cloud Formation
• Physics of Enhanced Radar Scatter
• Radar, Lidar and Optical Diagnostics
• Satellite Measurements (AIM)

Release from Nihka Solid Rocket Motor

• Large Concentration of Dust
• Supersonic Injection Velocity

Experiment Enhancements

• Ground and Ship Ionosonde Diagnostics
• Direct Injection by Chemical Release Module

CARE Program on Wikipedia

The Charged Aerosol Release Experiment also known as CARE, is a project run by NASA which will use a rocket to release of dust in the upper atmosphere to form a dusty plasma in space. NASA plans to trigger cloud formation around the rocket’s exhaust particles. The clouds thus generated are intended to simulate naturally occurring phenomena called noctilucent clouds, which are the highest clouds in the atmosphere. The CARE experiment is intended to create an artificial dust layer at the boundary of space in a controlled sense, in order to “allow scientists to study different aspects of it, the turbulence generated on the inside, the distribution of dust particles and such.”

The dust cloud is generated using the Nihka motor dust generator. The dust cloud is composed of aluminum oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, water, and nitrogen, as well as smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, hydrogen, monatomic chlorine, and monatomic hydrogen.

According to NASA, SHIMMER will track the CARE dust cloud for days or even months. The SHIMMER instrument has previously viewed natural noctilucent clouds for the past two years. The CARE will be the first space viewing of an artificial noctilucent cloud.

The rocket was set to launch between 7:30 and 7:57 EDT on Tuesday Sept. 14, 2009 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague, Virginia.

Source: Wikipedia

Navy Research Lab Spectra Magazine mentions CARE Program

CARE-I launched by DoD STP
sounding rocket. The Charged Aerosol
Release Experiment I (CARE-I) was
launched by the DoD STP from the
NASA Wallops Flight Facility at dusk
on September 19, 2009, to investigate
properties of charged dust in the
ionosphere. The bright optical CARE-I
upper atmospheric display, easily seen
from the ground along the East Coast
of the United States, was produced by
sunlight scattered by concentrated
rocket exhaust that was released at
290 km altitude by a delayed firing of
the sounding rocket fourth stage. The
exhaust material, composed of 1/3
aluminum oxide particles and 2/3
combustion product molecules, interacted
with the ionosphere to create a
dusty plasma with high-speed pick-up
ions. Ground-based radars tracked
the effects of CARE-I on the
ionosphere for more than four
hours, producing valuable data
about how rocket motors affect
ionospheric densities. CARE-I also
provided a simulation of natural
disturbances in the Earth’s upper
atmosphere.
Source: nrl.navy.mil

Further References:

• C.L. Herzenberg, Physics and Society, April 1994.
• R. Williams, Physics and Society, April 1988.
• B. Eastlund, Microwave News, May/June 1994.
• W. Kofman and C. Lathuillere, Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 14, No. 11,
  pp 1158-1161, November 1987 (Includes French experiments at EISCAT).
• G. Metz and F.W. Perkins. “Ionospheric Modification Theory: Past Present
  and Future”, Radio Science, Vol.9, No. 11, pp 885-888, November 1974.
• My article: HAARP – The World’s Sexiest Energy Weapon

The moral of this story (I think) regarding HAARP:

Poker Flats shoots sounding rockets that cut a hole in the ionosphere.  This creates a tornado (cyclotron) in the ionosphere.  HIPAS helps focus HAARP’s transmissions inside this hole, creating an artificial plasma lens inside the vortex.  This lens can be rotated, providing signal steering, sending transmissions out into space, riding the van allen belts, and landing on the “conjugate location” on the opposite hemisphere of the world.

I hope you enjoyed this animated tour of HAARP’s history.  Y’all come back now.