All eyes are focused on the displayed image of the sun. Its unnatural green color adds to the unreal setting. No doubt about it, this control center resembles a scene in a futuristic, sci-fi movie. The overhead monitors continually update images and graphics. Around the room, space weather specialists and other scientists keep careful watch on the data. Above the clamor of ringing phones, the scientists discuss the actions they need to take.

Things change. Minutes earlier, all was quiet. Space weather forecasters sat at their stations, routinely monitoring an unchanging stream of data. Then, it happened. Without warning, a region of the sun’s surface violently exploded in a solar flare. In orbit above Earth, the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) detected the event as a sudden increase in x-ray radiation. Data collected by satellites streamed down to this secure location in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

In addition to monitoring x-rays, the space weather specialists are also analyzing the flare that is most often followed by a coronal mass ejection (CME). A CME is a magnetic bubble or twisted rope of magnetic field lines that lift off from the sun. If this solar ejection reaches Earth’s magnetic field, there could be severe and costly damage across the globe.

There are also other eyes on the data. Here, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), Dr. Janet Green, a space weather physicist, observes these same readings on her desktop computer. Along with the other scientists, she is interested in how the sun’s energy affects our planet.

Mission 1 Briefing Video Prepare for your mission by viewing this briefing on your objectives. Learn how scientists like Dr. Janet Green need to understand energy in all its forms to predict the weather in space and its impact on Earth.