Final Project

Jared S.

Legislator:  Mike Moncrief, Senator

Weather in Space

After doing all the lessons I realized I had no clue what I wanted to do my project on. Then when I looked back I realized that I had no clue what I was going to do. I randomly picked a number and went to that section. Then when I got there I reviewed it and went to the extended mission section. After all that I finally realized that I still did not know what to do. Then I saw something on television about solar flares and it hit me, Space Weather would be my topic.

Today on June 1^st, 2001 the average wind speed is at 331.0 km/s at a density of 27.9 protons/cm³ at a temperature of 28000° k and a pressure of 5.3 nPa.¹ There are 4 solar flares on our side of the sun. Region 9475 has a delta class (class indicating that umbrae separated by less than 2 degrees within one penumbra have opposite polarity) that might have an X-class flare (Scientists classify solar flares by their x-ray brightness by wavelength, from 1 to 8 Angstroms, X means it is greater than 6 and is the brightest class), But on the far side of the sun there are no substantial flares. “A few days ago the indicated coronal hole crossed the Sun's central meridian. It likely sent a solar wind stream toward Earth that we will encounter before the weekend.”² Today’s chance of having a class M solar flare is 22%. The chance of having a X-class is 2%. Tomorrow’s chance for a M-class flare is down to 20% and the chance for a X- class flare it also down to 1%. Overall the solar activity is expected to be low.³ The chance of a mid-latitude geomagnetic disturbance above the active range is 6% for to day and tomorrow. There is also a 6% chance of a high-latitude change above the active range. As of February 15^th scientist are sure that the sun’s magnetic fields are reversing which is a sure sign that the sun has reached a solar maximum. On February 21^st by using an experimental radar scientists are monitoring tiny but hazardous space meteoroids that could be dangerous to space shuttles[1] or satellites.² With that I conclude our space weather for today and now on to space sports.

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If you understood what all of this meant and what it has to do with NASA and the average person then I applaud you because when I first read it, it made absolutely no difference to me how much solar wind or when the flares are. I asked myself what does it all mean and how does it relate to me?

Solar wind is the particles that are released from the sun into the depths of space. The particles are what cause the tail of a comet to point away from the sun no matter which direction it is going. Solar wind it responsible for most of the resistance in space. It is also the reason we see bright lights in the upper and lower hemisphere. The most famous of these are the aura borealis, which are said to be the most beautiful thing in the world. The density is how many particles are in a cube. The more particles the more resistance and when the reentry angle for the space shuttle is one degree little things become rather important. The temperature of space was important to the designing of vehicles and satellites other structures and the materials used. Pressure was also very important when designing spacecraft. What if we had gotten into space and the pressure had of been tremendous. Our space shuttles would have imploded because they were designed for not mush pressure at all.

Solar flares used to mean weather warning days and sunscreen to me but now I know that if they are of large enough concentration that they can cause long-term weather changes. When my cell phone or television is not working I usually blame it on solar flares without ever realizing that they can really cause major telecommunication disturbances. The radio waves given out can disturb anything from satellite communications to underground communication cables. You can tell how bad the disturbances are going to be by how bright the solar flares are. They are rated in three different classes; X, M, and C. X are the largest and are over 6 angstroms. X can cause planet wide radio blackouts, which mean no television, radio, cordless phones, cell phones, or RC cars, planes, and boats. That means if something goes wrong on the space station or it your car during a X-class solar flare you will be unable to call or radio for help. X-class also causes long lasting radiation storms. M-class is smaller. It is between 3 and 6 angstroms. M-class only cause brief radio blackout more noticeable at the Polar Regions. They are some times followed by radiation storms. C-class is barely noticeable on earth and might barely add fuzz to a telephone conversation or a television show. Most things are not even noticeable on Earth.²

Geomagnetic disturbance, well who cares whether or not the Earth’s poles are aligned exactly or not. Anyone with a compass and no sense of direction does. Anyone who is scuba diving and needs to go 37 degrees north to get back to the boat does. If the disturbances are out side of the active range then it could lead to a small compass misdirection, which over a long distance can make a huge difference. Say fighter jet a has to fly 400 miles due west and drop a bomb on a warring nation’s nuclear supplies. They fly the jet 400 miles and drop the bomb on the nearest warehouse and leave only to realize that there was a disturbance in the magnetic field which put their gauges off one degree. They went 6.98 miles off course and just dropped their bombs on the orphanage that was built 7 miles south of the nuclear bomb storage facility. That is rather important don’t you think.

As soon as the sun burns out you will realize that the magnetic fields on the sun are important to monitor too. I’m not saying that it will burn out soon because it won’t but knowing that it will is important for future missions like the one to Mars were we are going to try and sustain life on a planet other than our own.

Monitoring small objects in orbit are important immediately for the safety of our satellites and solar panels in space but also more importantly for the safety of our astronauts both foreign and domestic because if a small meteor hits the side of the space shuttle and puts a hole in it there will not be enough time to return to earth and get it fixed. All the air will leak out immediately and if the astronauts have their space suits on and still have oxygen they will burn up when returning to earth because the hole will let in all the heat created by ripping through the atmosphere. Space weather may not have been mentioned in the activities but it is still important topic to discuss for many reasons and should be added next year.[2]

 

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[1] http://www.sel.noaa.gov/SWN/

² http://www.spaceweather.com/

³ http://www.sel.noaa.gov/today.html

Last Updated:  09/07/01