An upcoming NASA mission, with an assist from Utah State University, will send a satellite into orbit to study what are known as noctilucent clouds, which appear to glow at night.

Normally, the clouds are only seen at high latitudes, but in recent years, the evening clouds have been spotted as far south as Utah.

"We don't know why this is happening," said Vicki Elsbernd, NASA program executive for the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) mission.

The first possible launch date is April 25 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, she said during a telephone press conference Wednesday.

USU's Space Dynamics Lab created one of the three instruments that will be used to study the ultra-high-altitude clouds. The lab's SOFIE, or Solar Occulation for Ice Experiment, will gather information on the particles in the clouds and the chemistry involved in forming the clouds, said Jim Russell, the principal investigator from Hampton University in Virginia.

USU physicist Mike Taylor will be involved in analyzing the data.

Russell said while astronauts on the Space Shuttle and equipment on other satallites have spotted the clouds, no orbiting devices are equipped to probe these clouds.

"We are exploring clouds literally at the edge of space," Russell said.

Noctilucent clouds need cold temperatures, water vapor and small particles to form. It is believed that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, at high altitudes block incoming radiaiton from the sun. These gases may be lowering the temperatures at high altitudes, meaning humans may be inadvertantly causing more of these clouds to form.