NASA has launched a sounding rocket as part of its Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscope Experiment (INFUSE) mission.

NASA launched a new sounding rocket to study a stellar event in the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant that occurred 20,000 years ago. Cygnus is approximately 2,600 light years away from Earth. The sounding rocket mission, called the Integral Field Ultraviolet Spectroscope Experiment (INFUSE), was launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The INFUSE mission was expected to collect information about the remains for a few minutes from an altitude of 150 miles (240 km). Specifically, the instrument will collect light streaming from the Cygnus loop in far-ultraviolet wavelengths. The Cygnus Loop is the remains of a star that was once 20 times larger than our Sun. Astronomers estimate that the brightness of the light would have been bright enough to be visible from Earth during the day. According to astronomers and scientists, supernovae are part of a great life cycle. They spray the heavy metals formed in the star's core into the surrounding clouds of dust and gas. They are the source of all chemical elements heavier than iron in our universe, including the elements that make up our bodies.