# Presentation: 083328

## Living With a Star Program

**Madhulika Guhathakurta**
**Living With a Star Program Scientist**
**LWS MOWG**
**NASA Headquarters**
**October 21-22, 2003**

**Living With a Star Program**

**Develop the scientific understanding necessary to effectively  address those    **
**aspects of the connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.**

**Notes:**
Define SEC

## President’s Vision Goals

**Implement a sustained and affordable human and robotic program ****to explore the solar system and beyond**
**Extend human presence across the solar system, starting with human return to the Moon by the year 2020, in preparation for human exploration of Mars and other destinations**
**Develop the innovative technologies,**** knowledge****, and infrastructure ****both to explore and support decisions**** about the destinations for human exploration **
**Promote ****international and commercial participation in exploration to further U.S. scientific****, security, and ****economic interests**

## Sun-Solar System Connection

***Sun-Solar System Connection***

***•******	******How and why does the Sun vary?***
***	******How does the Earth ******and Planets****** respond?***
***•******	******What are the impacts on life and society?***

_**Varying**_**     ****	****         **
**•   ****Radiation**
**•   ****Solar Wind **
**•   ****Energetic Particles**
**Driven by 11 Year Solar Cycle**

***Planet***

***Variable Star***

**98        00        02        04        06        08        10        12        14        16        18   **

**Solar Flares**

**Geomagnetic Storms**

- Year

**Notes:**
We live in the extended atmosphere of an active star.  While sunlight enables and sustains life, the Sun’s variability produces streams of high-energy particles and radiation that can affect life.

Under the protective shield of a magnetic field and atmosphere, the Earth is an island in the Universe where life has developed and flourished.  The origins and fate of life on Earth are intimately connected to the way the Earth responds to the Sun’s variations.  Understanding the changing Sun and its effects on the Solar System, life, and society is the goal of the Sun-Earth Connection Theme.

## Slide 4

## Slide 5

## Science Application as the Focus

**Science Application as the Focus**

**The primary goal of the LWS Program is to develop the understanding necessary to enable the U.S. to effectively address those aspects of the Connected Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society.**
- Space Weather
- Sun-Climate Connection

## LWS is a Systems Approach 

**LWS focuses not on any one region of space, but rather on our Sun Earth Region as one system.**

**A very important part is the study of the connection between the regions and how one drives a response in another.**

## LWS-Related Missions 

**             ****92****        94        96        98        00        02        04        06        08        10        12       14        16        18           **

**Year**

**TRACE**

* *

***Solar Max***

***Solar Max***

**ACE**

**GEOTAIL**

**POLAR**

**TIMED**

**SAMPEX**

**WIND**

**FAST**

**IMAGE**

**CLUSTER**

**C/****NOFS**

**SOLAR-B**

**SDO**

**STEREO**

**MMS**

***RBSP***

**EPOP**

**COSMIC**

***I-TSP***

**LWS-Related Missions **

**EQUARS**

**DMSP/POES                                                  NPOESS**

***Solar Max***

**TWINS**

**GPS**

**SOHO**

**RHESSI**

**ULYSSES**

**THEMIS**

**ACRIMSAT/SORCE**

**CORONAS-F**

**CORONAS-PHOTON**

**PICARD**

**SST**

**SMEI**

**L5**

**SOLAR ORBITER**

**INTERHELIOPROBE**

**SOLAR SENTINELS**

**GEOSTORM**

**DOUBLE STAR**

**RAVENS**

**INTERBALL/PROGNOZ**

**SWISE-1**

**AIM**

**SWARM**

**MESSENGER**

**BEPPI-COLUMBO**

**LANL/GOES**

**ROCSAT-2**

**FUV IMAGER**

**INDEX**

**VULKAN**

**SOLAR**

**HELIOSPHERIC**

**MAGNETOSPHERIC**

**IONOSPHERIC**

## LWS & Exploration (Geospace)

**Radiation effects will be a significant part of any space exploration program. There are three main areas where I see LWS geospace might contribute**
**Manned space flight**
***The biggest risk is in interplanetary space (or Lunar surface) from SEPs (Solar energetic particles)***
**There is also significant risk from the terrestrial radiation belts (and south atlantic anomaly if travel to the moon or Mars is staged and starts with a stay in LEO (e.g. at the international space station or similar facility)**
**Planetary exploration**
**If we want to understand the radiation environments at other planets and **
**predict the potential effects there then we need to use the Earth’s radiation belts as a local laboratory. Among the questions are:**
**What do we expect at other planets?**
**How do we scale what we observe if we don’t understand the dynamics**
**Space Infrastructure**
**Understanding the impacts of the Earth’s radiation environment on space infrastructure will be increasingly important as mankind moves even more aggressively into space.**
**Space infrastructure will have to increase and will be vulnerable to radiation belt effects**
**Space exploration is not completely uncoupled from the increasing DOD programs in Military Space, Space Control, and Space Situational Awareness. LWS geospace has increasing relevance to those increasingly important national programs.**

## LWS & Exploration 

**1.  Identify the broad space weather needs of NASA Exploration Vision, especially for the future directions our Agency will be taking. This includes technology development, scientific research and understanding, and the concerns regarding the effect of space weather phenomena on a long-term human presence in space. **
**2.  Identify the assets, programs, and development efforts that NASA has or has access to, now and in the future, which can be used to further our ability to understand space weather and its effects on Exploration.**

## LWS & Exploration (cont.)

**1)   ****Near-term: e.g. assets which can be readily adapted to fit more of NASA's space weather needs. Missions currently taking measurements (SOHO, ACE, Ulysses), missions which can be mobilized for space weather usage with minimal effort (Cassini and other planetary programs), models which can be easily implemented, and modifying observing and reporting structures to suit the broader needs of NASA.**
**2)   Intermediate term: e.g. focus on technology development, such as radiation-hard components,  which will allow us more independence and reliability in space; focus on gathering more information regarding the exposure and effects of exposure of various types  of radiation on humans.**
**3)   Long-term: e.g. identifying current plans and roadmaps which can be synergized to better suit NASA's needs. **