History 220-011 History of Space Exploration

This portal was developed through the National Space Weather Program (NSWP) as part of the Unified National Space Weather Capability. The NSWP is an interagency initiative to speed improvement in space weather services and prepare the country to deal with technological vulnerabilities associated with the space environment.

The sun is a dynamic star, made of super-hot ionized gas called plasma. The sun's surface and atmosphere change continually, driven by the magnetic forces generated by this constantly-moving plasma. The sun releases energy in two ways: the usual flow of light that illuminates the Earth and makes life possible; but also in more violent and dramatic ways--it gives off bursts of light, particles, and magnetic fields that can have ripple effects all the way out to the solar system's magnetic edge. We study the sun to better understand how its ever-changing conditions can influence Earth, other worlds, and even space itself.

Different types of space weather can affect different technologies at Earth. Solar flares can produce strong x-rays that degrade or block high-frequency radio waves used for radio communication during events known as Radio Blackout Storms. Solar Energetic Particles (energetic protons) can penetrate satellite electronics and cause electrical failure. These energetic particles also block radio communications at high latitudes in during Solar Radiation Storms

Canadian agency responsible for forecasting and tracking the impact of space weather.

The great geomagnetic storm of August 28 through September 3, 1859 is, arguably, the greatest and most famous space weather event in the last two hundred years. For the first time observations showed that the sun and aurora were connected and that auroras generated strong ionospheric
currents. A significant portion of the world’s 200,000 km of telegraph lines were adversely affected, many of which were unusable for 8 h or more which had a real economic impact. In addition to published scientific measurements, newspapers, ship logs, and other records of that era
provide an untapped wealth of first hand observations giving time and location along with reports of the auroral forms and colors. At its height, the aurora was described as a blood or deep crimson red that was so bright that one “could read a newspaper by.” At its peak, the Type A red aurora
lasted for several hours and was observed to reach extremely low geomagnetic latitudes on August 28–29 (~25°) and on September 2–3 (~18°). Auroral forms of all types and colors were observed below 50° latitude for ~24 h on August 28–29 and ~42 h on September 2–3. From a large atabase
of ground-based observations the extent of the aurora in corrected geomagnetic oordinates is presented over the duration of the storm event.