WEBVTT FILE 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.