The recent launch of a NOAA weather satellite provided an ''experiment of opportunity'' for simultaneous radio and optical diagnostics of a large artificially-induced ionospheric modification. The rocket plume caused disturbances that were monitored using intensified imaging and photometer observations at 6300 ¿ along the same raypath as VHF polarimeter measurements of the ionsphere's total electron content (TEC). A rapid chemical depletion of TEC by -16.8¿1012 el/cm2 caused a burst of 6300 ¿ radiation that expanded to more than 60¿ of the sky, with peak intensities near 9 k R. The event was used as an active space plasma experiment to test theoretical estimates for atmospheric diffusion and O(1D) quenching rates.