The Role of the Space Environment Testbed in NASA's Living with a Star Programme
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NASA’S LIVING WITH A STAR PROGRAM Dana A. Brewer NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC 20546 USA, [email protected] Janet L. Barth NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA, [email protected] Kenneth A. LaBel NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA, [email protected] William J. Kauffman NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35812 USA, [email protected] ABSTRACT and energetic particles, and this production also varies NASA has initiated the Living with a Star (LWS) as a function of the time in the eleven-year solar cycle. Program to develop the scientific understanding to These phenomena (solar wind, electromagnetic address the aspects of the connected Sun-Earth radiation, and energetic particles) interact with the system that affect life and society. A goal of the Earth’s magnetic fields and atmosphere to produce: program is to bridge the gap between science, • Changes to the Earth’s fields; engineering, and user application communities by • Atmospheric photochemistry responsible for the addressing scientific questions that pertain to human climate and its change; and, radiation exposure, climate change, and technological • Atmospheric ionization responsible for plasmas, systems. This will enable future science, operational, auroras, and scintillation effects. and commercial objectives in space and atmospheric environments by improving engineering approaches The effects of these changes on humanity increase to the accommodation and/or mitigation of the effects every day due to the increased reliance on new of solar variability on these systems. technology and systems that have critical space-based components and the increased or changed use of The formulation of the LWS Program architecture existing technology (increasing the probability of and implementation plan is currently in progress with failure of a unit). For example, inputs from the science and engineering communities. • Commercial communications and high frequency There are plans for two groups of science spacecraft: radio communications increasingly have critical (a) solar dynamics elements that observe the Sun and space (satellite) links. track disturbances originating there and (b) geospace • The use of the Global Positioning System (GPS), a elements located between the Sun and the Earth and space asset, to provide assistance in navigation and around the Earth to measure downstream effects the location is increasing. geospace response to changes in solar activity. Plans • The use of emerging and commercial off-the-shelf also include a data analysis component to improve (COTS) microelectronics technology with better scientific understanding and a series of Space capability is increasing in space, in aircraft, and on Environment Testbeds to provide infusion of the the ground. These technologies tend to be more improved understanding to the design and operations vulnerable to the effects of solar varying of future missions. environments. • The increase in air travel, particularly over the The LWS Program is developing partnerships with polar regions (where ionizing radiation is higher other U.S. and International agencies and industry to than at lower latitudes), may have implications for augment existing capabilities. This paper will give an the occupational safety and health for flight crews. overview of the program architecture and the Minimizing the impacts of the effects on technology, implementation and partnering plan for LWS. life, and society requires that we improve the scientific understanding for how and why the changes occur on 1. INTRODUCTION the Sun as well as how the Sun and Earth interact as a The Sun is our nearest star. It contains magnetic system. We can then use the results to enable fields, plasmas, and energetic particles that interact engineering applications that may improve future with each other with an eleven-year periodicity. It science. This connection is depicted in Figure 1. produces the solar wind, electromagnetic radiation, NASA initiated the Living With a Star (LWS) connected system through the range of conditions Program in its Office of Space Science (OSS) to occurring during the eleven-year solar cycle. The develop the scientific understanding to address the science missions gather basic science data to achieve aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that affect the understanding of the connected Sun-Earth system. life and society. Three fundamental questions will be addressed to develop this understanding, as follows: Data mining and analysis in a Theory, Modeling, and • How and why does the Sun vary? Data Analysis (TMDA) component will improve • How does the Earth respond? knowledge of space environmental conditions and • What are the implications for humanity? variations over the solar cycle, develop new techniques The LWS Program objectives are based upon these and models for predicting solar/geospace disturbances, questions and are as follows: and develop cost-effective techniques for assimilating • Understand solar variability and its effects on the data from networks of spacecraft. The TMDA defines space and Earth environments with an ultimate the environment in the absence of a spacecraft. goal of a reliable predictive capability of solar variability on long and short term time scales The sequence of Space Environment Testbeds (SET) (i.e., space weather); [6] will reduce the uncertainty in the space environment • Obtain scientific knowledge relevant to definition as functions of location and time in the solar mitigation or accommodation of undesirable cycle and will characterize the space environment effects of solar variability on humans and human effects on space hardware. The SET tasks are restricted technology; and, to the interactions that change with solar variability. • Understand how solar variability affects hardware performance and operations in space. Techniques to accommodate and mitigate the effects of solar variability can be developed and implemented The LWS Program requirements were developed using products from all three components, thereby using a series of community workshops [1], results of minimizing the impact of space weather on technology the Space Science strategic planning process [2,3], and human space flight. interagency discussions, and reports by the National Space Weather Program [4] and National Research These components are integrated into an LWS Program Council/National Academy of Sciences [5]. in the OSS’s Sun Earth Connection (SEC) Division and Participants were from U.S. industry, universities, and implemented through an LWS Program Office at the government agencies. They are customers for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. They are understanding and knowledge resulting from the described in the following sections of this paper. The Program. SEC science community provides advice to the OSS through the Sun Earth Connection Advisory Sun-Earth Space Subcommittee (SECAS), a subcommittee of the Space Connection Station High Science Advisory Committee [7]. The SET Steering Altitude Human Air Flight Exploration Committee provides advice to the SET and the SECAS. of Space Exploring A schematic of this LWS program architecture is given GPS & Scientific Beyond Earth HF, VHF Understanding Radio Global in Figure 2. Comm Change Electric Enabling Sun Earth Connection (SEC) Power Science Education SEC Advisory Grids / Outreach Science Theme Subcommittee (SECAS) Comsats & LWS Program Commercial National Defense Use of Space Space SET Steering Hardware Committee Design Science Theory & Space Missions Modeling Environment Testbeds (SET) Figure 1. Schematic of the Sun-Earth connections. Partners Solar Dynamics Yearly Observatory (SDO) Research SET-1 Geospace Missions Opportunities SET-2 Solar Sentinels SET-3 The approach to addressing these questions has three Partners components. The first component is a distributed network of research spacecraft to quantify the Figure 2. LWS Program architecture. physics, dynamics, and behavior of the Sun-Earth 2 Participation in the LWS Program is open to U.S. and international investigators from industry, government, and academia. International investigators may participate based upon no exchange of funds. Partnering in investigations, in space flights, and in the development of complementary initiatives that maximize the utility of the LWS Program and resources is encouraged. 2. LWS SCIENCE MISSIONS Figure 3. Sun-Earth Connection system of LWS science The mission pre-concepts are developed in Science missions for the next solar maximum. and Technology Definition Teams (STDTs) with membership from the scientific and user 2.1 The SDO Mission communities. The system of spacecraft missions can be sub-divided into three categories based upon the The SDO mission will observe the Sun’s dynamics to area of the Sun-Earth system being characterized. increase understanding of the nature and sources of the They are (1) the area immediately around the Sun that Sun’s variations [8]. The areas of the Sun that will be is used to investigate solar variability, (2) the area included are the changes in the magnetic fields and the between the Sun and the Earth used to investigate the relationships between the Sun’s magnetic fields and effects of the variability on the space environment, mass and energy releases from the Sun. and (3) the Earth’s space environment used to investigate the Earth’s atmospheric response to the The SDO mission concept employs a three-axis effects of solar variability.