Wednesday, October 1, 2008
What causes "brown outs?" Why do planes lose correspondence with each other when flying in certain areas? Those were only a few questions that were flying through our heads when my fellow Argos and I traveled to Boulder, Colorado.
When we entered the NOAA (National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration) building, I was taken by all of the technology and knowledge that was contained in that one area. It was truly an honor to work with Dr. Green and her colleagues. While in Colorado, I was given the opportunity to visit the SWPC (Space Weather Prediction Center) in the NOAA building.
When I walked into the room, the lights were dim and I was surrounded by a countless number of computer screens. Each direction I turned there was a colorful monitor transmitting important information from the satellites to the scientists. I was in awe, to say the least. Just looking around and seeing so much data coming directly from satellites studying the sun was hard to wrap my mind around. Every day of my life I saw the sun, no big deal right? Wrong!
After sitting in the SWPC looking at a magnificent, complex, neon ball on the computer screen, my thoughts about the sun have changed completely! It was pretty hard to believe that the sun I have seen every day was the same sun that these Dr. Green and her co-workers were studying at NOAA.
Some people think "Well it is space weather, not weather here on Earth so why does it matter?" I learned that, actually, space weather affects our life each and every day! Sometimes we don't realize how important it is to have scientists like Dr. Green studying space weather and the sun. The sun's activity can cause major problems with satellites, airplanes, and even our power grids. The high-energy particles that are given off by the sun can mess up a ton of technology on Earth even though they are so far away. Without the help of scientists, we would be in big trouble!
All of the scientists that we met at LASP (Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics) who build the satellites depend so much on the information collected by the scientists at NOAA. Without the knowledge of space weather and its effects on satellites, they wouldn't be as successful. Imagine trying to build a satellite without knowing what features to add to protect it from the harsh conditions in outer space? It would be close to impossible!
Now, whenever I am enjoying a nice sunny day, I think to myself, I wonder what that sun is actually doing and what an interesting day Dr. Green is having. Are there going to be any solar flares? Is the sun about to release a coronal mass ejection? My exposure to all of information from the scientists shed a new light on me.
It was truly an honor to work with Dr. Green and the rest of the scientists at NOAA. While I was working with them, I felt as though I was actually a part of their team. "Dr. Lindsay Hannah Space Weather Expert" – sounds pretty good if I do say so myself! Even though I am just a normal teenager, these top-notch scientists actually listened to me and cared about what I had to say or what questions I had about space weather.
So why do the lights go out? What causes planes to lose correspondence? The world may never know…(that's why they ask the Argos!)
Q&A with Argo Lindsay:
When you're not working with scientists at top-notch research facilities, what other types of "adventures" do you get to have as an Argo?
On our first mission day, we went to the Dushanbe Tea House in Boulder, Colorado. The buttermilk pancakes were out of this world along with the Rainforest Tea. Later on after some experiments…thinking about the sun really got us "heated up" so we headed off to Jamba Juice! My Orange Dream Machine smoothie was off the hook! It reminded me of Tropical Smoothie Café back at home. I also had a wheat grass shot, man that was the grossest thing I have ever tasted. It was basically like lawn clippings, wait, it was lawn clippings! Oh well, you have to try sooner or later…
Why is it important for scientists to work together on projects?
A space physics scientist named Bill gave us a tour of LASP, Laboratory for Astronomy and Space Physics, and taught us a lot about what role they play. We began our tour with a replica of satellite that was made at LASP, and then we got to see all of the steps along the way that it took to create a satellite like the one we saw! These scientists depend on the data that scientists at NOAA collect about space weather. Finally, we wrapped the tour up with a visit to the mission control room where they control all of the satellites! It was truly an honor to experience how they make such high-tech equipment.