China launches sounding rocket

China's first space science active experiment was conducted Friday morning to study the dynamical processes of the Earth's ionosphere, a top scientific institute said.The experiment conducted at a sounding rocket launch site in Zhanzhou, south China's Hainan Province, will provide in-situ measurements for studying the vertical distribution of space environment, said Wu Ji, director of the National Space Science Center of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).The vertical exploration test was completed with the help of a sounding rocket, which released a kilogram of powdered barium into the ionosphere at a height of 200 kilometers from the ground, Wu said.The rocket, manufactured by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, carried three kinds of detecting instruments in the eight-minute flight, including a Langmuir probe, an electric field probe, and a barium powder releaser.The CAS's Hainan Sounding Rocket Launching Site close to the equator, was established in 1986. In addition to launching sounding rockets, it deploys more than 10 ground-based space environment observational instruments.