This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
--------------3546508A55B1
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Here's something from NASA which is certainly contest related. Maybe
we'll all have access to near real time solar event info one of these
days !
---------------------------###-----------------------------
PROBE ELECTRONICS 100 Higgins Road, Park Ridge IL 60068 USA
Keith J. Morehouse / WB9TIY / Society of Midwest Contesters
847-696-2828 FAX: 847-698-2045 e-mail: blckhole@ripco.com
---------------------------###-----------------------------
--------------3546508A55B1
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Subject: Briefing Directly Linking Solar Storms to Disruptions on Earth
From: NASANews@luna.osf.hq.nasa.gov (NASA HQ Public Affairs Office)
To: press-release-com2@mercury.hq.nasa.gov
Don Savage
Headquarters, Washington, DC February 14, 1996
(Phone: 202/358-1547)
Diane Ainsworth
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)
NOTE TO EDITORS: N96-9
BRIEFING DIRECTLY LINKING SOLAR STORMS TO DISRUPTIONS ON EARTH
New findings, beneficial to the telecommunications
and power industries in preparing for huge geomagnetic
storms, will be the topic of a press briefing to be held 3
p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 15, 1996, at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena , CA. The briefing will be
carried live on NASA TV, with two-way question-and-answer
capability from participating NASA Centers.
The findings are the result of data from the
Japan/U.S. Soft X-Ray Telescope on board the Yohkoh
spacecraft and studies from the power industry. The
findings were presented at an international gathering of
solar physicists, power and utilities representatives and
members of the Department of Energy national laboratories,
held this week at JPL and sponsored by the American
Geophysical Union and the National Science Foundation.
Participants in the briefing will be Hugh Hudson,
University of Hawaii; John Kappenman, Minnesota Power;
Douglas Hamilton, University of Maryland. Bruce Tsurutani,
JPL, will be the moderator.
Among the significant results being reported:
* Scientists using data from the Yohkoh satellite
have been able to draw a direct link between a dimming
process occurring in the Sun's corona which results in huge
flares causing electrified particles to wash over Earth.
Scientists predict they can now provide as much as 50 to 70
hours advance warning of these solar storms. That warning
can give industries time to prepare vulnerable systems for
the solar storm.
* The power industry has been able to directly
link major geomagnetic storms with severe disruptions at
power plants from Maine to California. This correlation
could allow the industry to monitor the beginnings of storms
on the Sun and prepare transmitters and power grids for the
onset of these storms on Earth.
* Ionized oxygen is the culprit in creating huge
energized rings in Earth's ionosphere just before the
onslaught of a geomagnetic storm. Knowing the composition
of these highly energized rings is allowing scientists to
better understand when they occur in the 11-year solar cycle
and to anticipate periods of high energy activity.
* Understanding the nature of very high energy
electrons will allow engineers to safeguard future
spacecraft in high radiation environments with better
protective shielding.
NASA is also a participant in the International
Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) program, involving a number
of satellites which will help scientists better understand
the Sun, leading to the ability to predict and provide
advance warning of solar storms affecting the Earth. Next
launch in the series is NASA's Polar spacecraft on February 22.
- end -
NASA press releases and other information are available
automatically by sending an Internet electronic mail message
to domo@hq.nasa.gov. In the body of the message (not the
subject line) users should type the words "subscribe
press-release" (no quotes). The system will reply with a
confirmation via E-mail of each subscription. A second
automatic message will include additional information on the
service. NASA releases also are available via CompuServe
using the command GO NASA.
--------------3546508A55B1--
|