Satellite & Space Missions

Biography

Biography: Madhulika Guhathakurta

Abstract

NASA’s twin STEREO probes, launched in 2006, have advanced the art and science of space weather forecasting more than any other spacecraft or solar observatory. By surrounding the Sun, they provide previously-impossible early warnings of threats approaching Earth as they develop on the solar far side. They have also revealed the 3D shape and inner structure of CMEs—massive solar storms that can trigger geomagnetic storms when they collide with Earth. This improves the ability of forecasters to anticipate the timing and severity of such events. Moreover, the unique capability of STEREO to track CMEs in three dimensions allows forecasters to make predictions for other planets, giving rise to the possibility of interplanetary space weather forecasting too. As human activity expands into the solar system, the need for accurate space weather and space climate forecasting is expanding, too. Space probes are now orbiting or en route for flybys of Mercury, Venus, Earth and the Moon, Mars, Vesta, Ceres, Saturn, and Pluto. Agencies around the World are preparing to send robotic spacecraft into interplanetary space. Each of these missions (plus others on the drawing board) has a unique need to know when a solar storm will pass through its corner of space or how the subsequent solar cycle will behave. Ultimately, astronauts will follow, traveling beyond Earth orbit, and their need for interplanetary space weather and climate forecasting will be even more compelling. STEREO is one of those rare missions for which “planetary hazards” refers to more than one World. The STEREO probes also hold promise for the study of comets and potentially hazardous asteroids.