NOAA's Space Weather Week Scheduled for Late April

Abstract

U.S. Space Weather Week, an annual conference for industry, academia, and government agencies to discuss topics related to space weather, will be held 25–28 April 2006 in Boulder, Colorado. Sponsored and hosted by NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC), with additional support from NASA and the National Science Foundation, the conference will address the effects of space weather on current technology, such as the maintenance of communications, navigation systems, spacecraft operations, aviation, and electric power. Sessions will also help identify high-priority needs for future research, with the goal of fostering communication among scientists, space weather service provides, and users of space weather services. The event will open with a keynote speech by John Phillips, a space weather scientist and a former Navy pilot who joined NASA in 1996. Phillips, who flew aboard the STS-100/Endeavour in 2001 and served a six-month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station in 2005, will speak about his experiences and the future of deep space exploration, as outlined by NASA's Space Exploration Initiative. “There are a lot of things going on, even though this is a solar minimum,” said William Murtagh, a space weather forecaster at the SEC and the lead conference coordinator for Space Weather Week. “You'd think otherwise, but it's really not the case.” For example, presenters will give updates on long-term, large-scale modeling efforts of the ionosphere and Sun-to-Earth coupled systems. Session topics and poster presentations will also include current research on dosimeters, radiation hazards on missions to the Moon and Mars, international activities and collaborations, and the status of satellite missions, such as the expected launch of NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) to study the Sun and the nature of coronal mass ejections. In addition, Space Weather Week will strongly feature the aviation community. As the number of commercial flights increases, with more flights directed over the poles, “the airline industry has identified space weather as a primary concern,” explained Murtagh. “Moreover, commercial space transportation is no longer a fringe business.” Longer flights that take a more orbital phase, and space tourism will be discussed at the conference. Attendees will include representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and Virgin Galactic. Though the conference officially starts on 25 April, on 24 April Space Weather Week will unofficially kick off with a half-day information session for local high school juniors and seniors. Phillips will speak about his experiences as an astronaut, and representatives from Lockheed Martin, graduate students from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and others will address more than 300 expected high school attendees. “The goal is to enlighten students on the career opportunities available in space science and industry,” said Murtagh. More information about Space Weather Week can be found at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/sww/index.html. Mohi Kumar is a staff writer for the American Geophysical Union.