1 00:00:11,980 --> 00:00:03,980 Intro music. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,980 22 thousand miles away from Earth, the GOES satellites 3 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:19,980 keep a watchful eye on our planet at all times,sending real-time 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,980 data to help predict weather days in advance. 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,980 At the same time, a set of instruments carried on board GOES, monitor our sun 6 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,980 and provide critical data for space weather prediction. 7 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,980 You may then ask yourself 'Why do that? Why do we care?' 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,980 Andre Dress: When you think of space weather and they talk about 9 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,990 things like solar wind, It’s not the wind that you breath, 10 00:00:44,010 --> 00:00:47,990 this is radiation that’s coming off of the sun; 11 00:00:48,010 --> 00:00:51,990 Protons, electrons that come streaming off of the sun towards the Earth and they get 12 00:00:52,010 --> 00:00:55,990 caught in the Earth’s magnetic field.They get mirrored down to the poles, you see 13 00:00:56,010 --> 00:00:59,990 the aurora borealis and they heat the Earth’s environment and then it cools… 14 00:01:00,010 --> 00:01:03,990 …and so that heating and that cooling certainly has an impact on Earth- 15 00:01:04,010 --> 00:01:07,990 based weather. Paul Richards: You may not know it but you can have a solar storm 16 00:01:08,010 --> 00:01:11,990 and all of a sudden you are pumping gas with your credit 17 00:01:12,010 --> 00:01:15,990 card and it’s not working in the machine. That could be from a disruption of communication 18 00:01:16,010 --> 00:01:19,990 satellites from solar weather. So, the solar weather affects you 19 00:01:20,010 --> 00:01:23,990 everyday down here as well, not only just astronauts…it affects 20 00:01:24,010 --> 00:01:27,990 people on Earth. Narrator: In fact, space weather data is so 21 00:01:28,010 --> 00:01:31,990 important for our everyday life here on Earth, that there are people who actually 22 00:01:32,010 --> 00:01:35,990 monitor that data 24 hours a day, three hundred 23 00:01:36,010 --> 00:01:39,990 sixty five days a year. Howard Singer: Hello, I am Howard Singer, chief scientist at 24 00:01:40,010 --> 00:01:43,990 NOAA’s space weather prediction center here in Boulder, CO. We study 25 00:01:44,010 --> 00:01:47,990 the space environment and provide information about what’s going on in 26 00:01:48,010 --> 00:01:51,990 space and on the Earth that’s influenced by our sun. 27 00:01:52,010 --> 00:01:55,990 The antennas that you see behind me are used to capture data 28 00:01:56,010 --> 00:01:59,990 from the Geosynchronous satellites; the GOES satellites; that are over 22 29 00:02:00,010 --> 00:02:03,990 thousand miles above us here in Boulder. Bob Rutledge: This is manned 30 00:02:04,010 --> 00:02:07,990 24/7, 365. Space weather can happen in any time 31 00:02:08,010 --> 00:02:11,990 The forecasters assimilate all this data to develop both 32 00:02:12,010 --> 00:02:15,990 probabilistic forecast for the next 24 hours. The forecasters can also issue 33 00:02:16,010 --> 00:02:19,990 alerts and warnings in real time. Janet Green: The people that use our 34 00:02:20,010 --> 00:02:24,000 data are the power companies because space weather can actually 35 00:02:24,020 --> 00:02:28,000 cause problems for the power grid and black outs. 36 00:02:28,020 --> 00:02:32,000 NASA uses our data to let the astronauts know to go to a safer place. 37 00:02:32,020 --> 00:02:36,000 Paul Richards: Typically it has to be clear to go out on a spacewalk because you 38 00:02:36,020 --> 00:02:40,000 do subject yourself to even higher radiation because you are not shielded 39 00:02:40,020 --> 00:02:44,000 by either the shuttle or the space station. Janet Green: Also GPS users 40 00:02:44,020 --> 00:02:48,000 use our data because space weather can increase errors in GPS 41 00:02:48,020 --> 00:02:52,000 We can do things like warn planes that if they fly in 42 00:02:52,020 --> 00:02:56,000 a certain latitude, they will loose communications. 43 00:02:56,020 --> 00:03:00,000 Or we can let satellite operators know that radiation levels are high 44 00:03:00,020 --> 00:03:04,000 and they can operate their instrument in a way that can make them less susceptible 45 00:03:04,020 --> 00:03:08,000 Rodney Viereck: All of these new customers; these new technologies, now depend on 46 00:03:08,020 --> 00:03:12,000 space weather in order to protect their systems. 47 00:03:12,020 --> 00:03:16,000 Narrator: Other satellites, such as Stereo, SOHO, 48 00:03:16,020 --> 00:03:20,000 and SDO are dedicated to help scientists study the sun. 49 00:03:20,020 --> 00:03:24,000 Space weather forecasters use that data as well to create 50 00:03:24,020 --> 00:03:28,000 different models. So why then, would a weather satellite like GOES 51 00:03:28,020 --> 00:03:32,000 need to also look at the sun? Paul Richards: SOHO, Stereo, 52 00:03:32,020 --> 00:03:36,000 SDO going up, they are all NASA experimental satellites looking 53 00:03:36,020 --> 00:03:40,000 for scientific data. GOES is actually 54 00:03:40,020 --> 00:03:44,000 operated by NOAA.We develop it here at NASA and they 55 00:03:44,020 --> 00:03:48,000 are operational satellites. Janet Green: So that means that there are always two 56 00:03:48,020 --> 00:03:52,000 satellites running at all times and should one of those fails, 57 00:03:52,020 --> 00:03:56,000 there is even a 3rd satellite up there in storage, waiting to be turned on, 58 00:03:56,020 --> 00:04:00,000 so we will never miss some space weather 59 00:04:00,020 --> 00:04:04,010 event that’s going on. Launch Countdown Announcer: Zero and lift off 60 00:04:04,030 --> 00:04:08,010 Narrator: On March 4th, 2010 NASA launched 61 00:04:08,030 --> 00:04:12,010 the last satellite in the GOES N-O-P series. 62 00:04:12,030 --> 00:04:16,010 GOES-P, now GOES-15, will ensure continuity of service 63 00:04:16,030 --> 00:04:20,010 and delivery of real-time data to help predict space and 64 00:04:20,030 --> 00:04:24,010 Earth-based weather more accurately. 65 00:04:24,030 --> 00:04:28,010 Paul Richards: We are actually working on the replacement of those, GOES-R series, 66 00:04:28,030 --> 00:04:32,010 and they are going to be lasting for 5 years of storage and 15 67 00:04:32,030 --> 00:04:36,010 years on orbit.