1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:06,200 [Slate] 2 00:00:06,220 --> 00:00:11,390 [Slate] 3 00:00:11,410 --> 00:00:16,450 Well space weather is a description of solar storms 4 00:00:16,470 --> 00:00:21,500 huge eruptions that happen on the sun. And these eruptions send out massive amounts of 5 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,620 energy and material out through the entire solar system. And sometimes they impact 6 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:31,790 the Earth. And when they do we get all kinds of amazing things like the aurora and 7 00:00:31,810 --> 00:00:36,840 the northern and southern lights. But these events are electromagnetic 8 00:00:36,860 --> 00:00:41,920 in nature so they interact with our technology and not always in a good way. 9 00:00:41,940 --> 00:00:47,040 So it's really important for us to understand space weather so we can reduce and 10 00:00:47,060 --> 00:00:52,220 limit the amount of impact, detrimental impact that these phenomena 11 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:57,280 have on our technology. But in addition to that sometimes they can put out huge bursts 12 00:00:57,300 --> 00:01:02,350 of radiation - very high energy particles which are dangerous to astronauts 13 00:01:02,370 --> 00:01:07,420 and ultimately to travelers to someplace like Mars. So in addition to understanding 14 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:12,580 impact on our technology, we want to make it safer for space travelers both around 15 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,600 the Earth and through the whole solar system. 16 00:01:17,620 --> 00:01:22,710 [slate] Well before STEREO, 17 00:01:22,730 --> 00:01:27,890 before 10 years ago, we were only looking at the sun head-on. 18 00:01:27,910 --> 00:01:32,950 So when something erupted from the sun traveling towards the Earth, we saw it in 19 00:01:32,970 --> 00:01:38,040 a limited field of view. It's very difficult to see how big it is, see the structure and 20 00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:43,240 see how fast it is. But once we launched the twin STEREO spacecraft 21 00:01:43,260 --> 00:01:48,320 we then now had a side view and even a back view of the sun. So this gave us a whole new perspective, 22 00:01:48,340 --> 00:01:53,370 two different additional view points that allowed us to much better 23 00:01:53,390 --> 00:01:58,470 see how these eruptions form on the sun, how they leave the sun 24 00:01:58,490 --> 00:02:03,650 travel through the solar system and how fast they are. And that is really critical 25 00:02:03,670 --> 00:02:08,740 to understanding space weather and its impact in a way that we were never able to 26 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:13,760 do before. 27 00:02:13,780 --> 00:02:18,860 [Slate] Well a total solar eclipse is a really 28 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:23,970 exciting time. It's the first - in the past it was the first time that humans 29 00:02:23,990 --> 00:02:29,130 were able to see this wispy outer part of the sun's atmosphere 30 00:02:29,150 --> 00:02:34,160 called the corona. Because it is such a faint structure millions 31 00:02:34,180 --> 00:02:39,220 of times fainter than the sun's disk, we can only see it when the moon completely blocks the sun out. 32 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:44,360 And the reason that is really important is that is the area where all the action 33 00:02:44,380 --> 00:02:49,510 is happening. Where all the solar eruptions are forming, where they are releasing all this stuff 34 00:02:49,530 --> 00:02:54,590 out into the solar system. So this is a unique opportunity because nature 35 00:02:54,610 --> 00:02:59,670 allows us to see this part of the sun's atmosphere in a way that even with our current technology 36 00:02:59,690 --> 00:03:04,690 we're not quite able to see as well. 37 00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:09,770 [Slate] 38 00:03:09,790 --> 00:03:14,850 Yeah so in a couple of years we're going to be launching Solar Probe Plus. For the first time 39 00:03:14,870 --> 00:03:20,000 we're sending a spacecraft all the way to the sun. Pretty amazing thing. 40 00:03:20,020 --> 00:03:25,180 And what's so cool about it is right now when we look at the sun, the sun's atmosphere 41 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:30,240 this really important area called the corona, we're seeing it from a distance. We can 42 00:03:30,260 --> 00:03:35,370 measure things coming off, but we're not doing this right there at the spot where it's happening. 43 00:03:35,390 --> 00:03:40,520 So we are in some aspects going to fly through the cloud tops so to speak 44 00:03:40,540 --> 00:03:45,590 and scoop up pieces of the sun's atmosphere, measure it at the source. 45 00:03:45,610 --> 00:03:50,680 This is going to be a unique, an amazing opportunity to see 46 00:03:50,700 --> 00:03:55,820 the important area of the sun in a way we've never, ever seen before. And in addition 47 00:03:55,840 --> 00:04:01,010 it's a really engineering marvel to send a spacecraft to this unbelievably harsh 48 00:04:01,030 --> 00:04:06,030 environment and to take these unique scientific measurements. 49 00:04:06,050 --> 00:04:11,230 [Slate] 50 00:04:11,250 --> 00:04:16,420 Well all spacecraft experience interference from the sun. It's incredibly bright. 51 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:21,480 It puts out light in all the different wavelengths including things like radio that we're 52 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:26,590 communicating a spacecraft with. But normally that time of 53 00:04:26,610 --> 00:04:31,740 noise created by the sun is very limited. But for STEREO once we traveled 54 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,770 all the way back around the sun and we're trying to look past the sun to the spacecraft, 55 00:04:36,790 --> 00:04:41,840 we have a period of about three months when there was too much interference to really 56 00:04:41,860 --> 00:04:46,940 communicate with the spacecraft. So during that time we were not in contact with STEREO. 57 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:52,090 But what happened, once we passed that three month period, the STEREO 58 00:04:52,110 --> 00:04:57,150 B spacecraft, one of the two, was still not connecting with us. We were not 59 00:04:57,170 --> 00:05:02,230 able to get signals from it. So it's only been recently, almost 24 months 60 00:05:02,250 --> 00:05:07,350 since that time that we were finally able to start communicating with the 61 00:05:07,370 --> 00:05:12,500 B spacecraft. [Slate] 62 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:17,600 [Slate] Well STEREO has really, really 63 00:05:17,620 --> 00:05:22,740 revolutionized the way we see the sun. Because again we're seeing it 64 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:27,820 multiple perspectives. I mean life is 3D, life is not just one direction. And so 65 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:32,920 STEREO finally gave us this amazing view, holistic 66 00:05:32,940 --> 00:05:37,980 full view of the sun. So that in itself is scientifically fantastic. 67 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:43,100 Something brand new. But on top of that, STEREO was a two year mission 68 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:48,170 and it's lasted for 10 years. So not only is it a scientific marvel, 69 00:05:48,190 --> 00:05:53,250 it's an engineering marvel. And so that's one of the exciting things being a 70 00:05:53,270 --> 00:05:58,350 part of a mission like that. We're getting to explore and see new science 71 00:05:58,370 --> 00:06:03,540 and also for me as a scientist to see my colleagues, the engineers, get excited about 72 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:08,630 being able to stretch the limits of what they can do with spacecraft. 73 00:06:08,650 --> 00:06:13,720 And you know in some ways the sky is the limit is what you're going to see out of NASA 74 00:06:13,740 --> 00:06:18,740 continuing from now into the future. 75 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:23,930 [Slate] You can find out more about 76 00:06:23,950 --> 00:06:29,010 STEREO, Solar Probe Plus and other solar and heliophysics 77 00:06:29,030 --> 00:06:44,885 missions by going to www.nasa.gov/sunearth.