A special report from BBC Nature:
Could our planet be under attack from the unearthly forces that cast a mysterious glow across the poles, disrupting life as we know it?
The strange, beautiful coloured lights that circle the Earth’s polar regions are a source of fascination for many.
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.
But as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, dance in the frozen skies over Alaska, scientists’ trigger fingers are poised to launch rockets.
The researchers at the world’s largest land-based rocket range hope to learn more about these storms and their impact on lives in the northern hemisphere.
Rocket men
The Poker Flat Research Range’s location in central Alaska makes it the perfect place to study, and film, the Aurora Borealis.So filmmakers headed there to capture footage both of the natural phenomenon and the scientists’ explosive experiments for the BBC series Frozen Planet.
