>space weather
...an instrument for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) third-generation weather satellites under the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) Program.
...the Energetic Heavy Ion Sensor, or EHIS, for the Space Environment In-Situ Suite (SEISS), which will monitor potentially dangerous energetic atomic nuclei and electrons as they hurtle through space near Earth.
... the UNH-(U. of New Hampshire) built instrument will measure particles with the highest energy ranges – particles that can pose great risk to satellites, astronauts, and transpolar aircraft crews. Large increases in the energetic particle flux often precede the arrival of magnetic storms generated by solar activity, and these storms can damage ground-based electronics and power systems.
While some 80 percent of the instrumentation aboard the GOES-R satellites will be dedicated to tracking Earth-based weather, the space environment suite...will point upward towards space to monitor one of the components of "space weather" ...
The first launch of the GOES-R series satellite is scheduled for 2012.
~Could this sensor also be used monitor "potenially dangerous atomic nuclei and electrons" from other nations' satellites or from earth if such energy producing devices did exist or perhaps were to be tested? (I'm riffing, sorry.)
Posted by Stubbornson at September 27, 2006 07:55 AM