MorningSong
18th August 2011, 08:33
In a surprise announcement, NASA says it will hold a press conference tomorrow (Thursday Aug. 18, 11am PDT) to discuss "new details about the structure of solar storms and the impact they have on Earth."
The news briefing will begin at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) and will be broadcast live on the NASA TV cable channel, as well as webcast on the agency's NASA TV website.
In light of the fact that we have said for some months that we should be aware of and prepare for major solar storms, this could be one of the most important press conferences of recent times – provided both NASA and the press are prepared to cover the full implications of what such solar storms can do – which includes destroying the electrical grid systems wherever a top-scale coronal mass ejection strikes.
“The briefing will review new observations from several NASA spacecraft, including the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (Stereo), that currently keep a close eye on the sun, agency officials said in the statement released Tuesday Aug. 16.
“The news briefing will begin at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) and will be broadcast live on the NASA TV cable channel, as well as webcast on the agency's NASA TV website.
“The sun is currently in an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle (the current season is called Solar Cycle 24) and has erupted with several major flares in recent weeks. The solar cycle will peak in 2013, NASA scientists have said.”
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
The news briefing will begin at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) and will be broadcast live on the NASA TV cable channel, as well as webcast on the agency's NASA TV website.
In light of the fact that we have said for some months that we should be aware of and prepare for major solar storms, this could be one of the most important press conferences of recent times – provided both NASA and the press are prepared to cover the full implications of what such solar storms can do – which includes destroying the electrical grid systems wherever a top-scale coronal mass ejection strikes.
“The briefing will review new observations from several NASA spacecraft, including the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (Stereo), that currently keep a close eye on the sun, agency officials said in the statement released Tuesday Aug. 16.
“The news briefing will begin at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) and will be broadcast live on the NASA TV cable channel, as well as webcast on the agency's NASA TV website.
“The sun is currently in an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle (the current season is called Solar Cycle 24) and has erupted with several major flares in recent weeks. The solar cycle will peak in 2013, NASA scientists have said.”
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html