Apr 14 2009
From The Space Library
NASA announced that its twin STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) spacecraft had provided scientists with their first view of the speed, trajectory, and three-dimensional shape of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The spacecraft’s capabilities had dramatically improved scientists’ ability to predict the impact of CMEs on Earth, enabling them to determine when CMEs would occur. In addition, scientists could now predict whether a CME would merely cause an auroral display or would produce a type of cosmic ray that is potentially hazardous to astronauts, spacecraft, and Earth technologies such as GPS signals and power grids. NASA had launched the two spacecraft in 2006 on a mission to make simultaneous observations of CMEs from different vantage points. The successful production of three-dimensional observations had enabled solar physicists to determine when a CME would reach Earth and to predict how much energy the CME would deliver to Earth’s magnetosphere. Because of the two vantage points of the twin STEREO spacecraft, the craft were able to provide data that Earth-based observatories were unable to capture, regarding the direction and speed of solar storms. STEREO could also sample the contents of solar storms and gauge the magnetic properties of the eruptions. Before the STEREO mission, scientists could not make measurements or collect subsequent data about CMEs until the ejections had arrived at Earth—typically three to seven days after their occurrence.
NASA, “NASA Spacecraft Show Three Dimensional Anatomy of a Solar Storm,” news release 09-083, 14 April 2009, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/apr/HQ_09-083_STEREO.html (accessed 17 May 2011); Anne Minard, “First 3-D Pictures of Solar Explosions Created,” National Geographic News, 15 April 2009.
The People’s Republic of China successfully launched Beidou 2, or Compass G2, into a geostationary orbit aboard a Long March-3C rocket from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province at 16:16 (UT). Beidou, which means “compass,” was the second satellite in a navigation system that China was building as an alternative to the United States’ GPS. China had launched the first Beidou craft in 2007. Xinhua reported that China planned to launch 30 more satellites before 2015, to complete the system. China had designed the system to provide continuous, real-time passive three-dimensional geospatial positioning and speed measurement, with the first phase covering only Chinese territory. Eventually the system would cover the entire globe.
Spacewarn Bulletin, no. 666, 1 May 2009, http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/spacewarn/spx666.html (accessed 33 May 2011); Associated Press, “China Launches 2d Satellite in GPS System,” 15 April 2009; Rui C. Barbosa, “China Open 2009 Schedule with BeiDou-2 (COMPASS-G2) Launch,” NASA Spaceflight, 15 April 2009.
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