THIS PROPOSAL ADDRESSES A KEY AND THUS FAR SPARSELY OBSERVED SUN EARTH CONNECTION: THE COUPLING BETWEEN SOLAR MAGNETOSPHERIC ENERGY AND ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY VIA ENERGETIC PARTICLE PRECIPITATION. THERE IS A LARGE AND RAPIDLY GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE THAT NITRIC OXIDE (NO) CREATED BY ENERGETIC PRECIPITATING PARTICLES DESCENDS TO LOWER ALTITUDES DURING POLAR NIGHT AND HAS A SIGNIFICANT AND POTENTIALLY LONG TERM EFFECT ON STRATOSPHERIC OZONE DISTRIBUTIONS AND THEREBY POSSIBLY CLIMATE. THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROPOSED EFFORT IS TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF NO PRODUCED IN THE POLAR NIGHT LOWER THERMOSPHERE AND THE AMOUNT OF NO THAT DESCENDS ACROSS THE MESOPAUSE. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY MEASURING THE ALTITUDE PROFILE OF POLAR NIGHT NO AND COMPARING THE OBSERVED PEAK DENSITY TO THE WELL-KNOWN PEAK ALTITUDE UNDER SOLAR ILLUMINATED CONDITIONS. IN THE POLAR-REGIONS ESPECIALLY DURING THE WINTERS WHERE SOLAR ILLUMINATION IS REDUCED THE PRODUCTION OF NO IS CONTROLLED BY ENERGETIC PARTICLE PRECIPITATION AND THE LIFETIME OF NO BECOMES LONG. THE LONG LIFETIME OF NO ALLOWS IT TO DESCEND INTO THE STRATOSPHERE AND REACT WITH OZONE IN A CATALYTIC PROCESS AFTER SUNLIGHT RETURNS. THIS LARGE BUILDUP OF NO BELIEVED TO OCCUR IN THE POLAR NIGHT HAS NEVER BEEN QUANTIFIED. OBSERVATIONS HAVE SHOWN DEPLETIONS IN OZONE FOLLOWING TIMES OF HIGH GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY PROVIDING A COMPELLING CASE FOR ENERGETIC PARTICLE-INDUCED NO PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORT [NATARAJAN ET AL. 2004; RANDALL ET AL. 1998; 2001; 2005; 2009]. SURPRISINGLY THIS SUN-EARTH COUPLING BY ENERGETIC PARTICLES (SECEP) IS NOT ONLY SEEN IN YEARS OF HIGH GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY BUT ALSO IN YEARS WHEN GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY WAS LOW AND ATMOSPHERIC DESCENT WAS STRONG [RANDALL ET AL. 2006; 2009]. THIS INDICATES THAT THE PRODUCTION OF NO THROUGH ENERGETIC PARTICLES IS POTENTIALLY AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN OZONE DEPLETION REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY. WE PROPOSE A ROCKET EXPERIMENT THAT WILL UTILIZE FOR THE FIRST TIME STELLAR OCCULTATION AS A METHOD FOR DIRECTLY OBTAINING NIGHTTIME MLT NO CONCENTRATIONS. THIS IS ACHIEVED WITH A MODERATELY HIGH RESOLUTION SPECTRAL MEASUREMENT OF THE NO .-BANDS NEAR 215 NM IN ABSORPTION. THE REQUIRED INSTRUMENTATION AND ROCKET PAYLOAD EXISTS AS THIS EXPERIMENT WAS ATTEMPTED ON JANUARY 27 2017 (NASA ROCKET 36.302) FROM POKER FLAT BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL DUE TO A COMMAND ANOMALY THAT ENDED THE DATA RECORDING BEFORE OBSERVATIONS FROM LOW ENOUGH TANGENT ALTITUDES WERE MADE. OVER 180S OF EXO-ATMOSPHERIC STAR SPECTRA WERE OBTAINED. THE PAYLOAD WAS RECOVERED IN GOOD CONDITION. WE PROPOSE TO LAUNCH AGAIN FROM POKER FLAT RESEARCH RANGE SOON AFTER WINTER SOLSTICE. OUR GOAL WITH HIS PROPOSAL IS TO COMPLETE THE OBJECTIVES OF THE EARLIER FLIGHT. MINOR CHANGES TO THE PAYLOAD AND GROUND SYSTEM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED TO AVOID THE ISSUES OF 36.302. AT 65.1 N POKER FLAT IS AN EXCELLENT LOCATION AS IT OFFERS VIEWS OF HIGHER LATITUDES WHERE THE VERY LONG WINTER NIGHTS PERMIT THE BUILDUP OF LARGE CONCENTRATIONS OF NO.