Recent Posts
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GOES 13 Weather Satellite Fails
With the recent EF5 Tornado in and loss of life in Moore Oklahoma the importance of continuous coverage by weather satellites is even more important and evident. One of the main Satellites NOAA uses to monitor the eastern United States, GOES 13 has failed. The satellite issue started on May 22nd at 03:40 UTC. The satellite failed to deliver images and engineers were called in to asses the issue. Attempts were made to recover the satellite imaging capability but these were unsuccessful. GOES 15 was pressed into service to temporally fill the data gap by placing it in a full disk schedule. GOES 13 was placed into storage mode while NOAA determines the next steps to take in possible recovery of the satellite. GOES 14 has been activated and will be configured in order to replace GOES 13. GOES 13 was launched in 2006 and was expected to have a 10 year life span. This is the second issue thus far with GOES 13, it also fail doe three weeks in September 2012. With the re-positioning of [...]
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Space Weather Alert Strong Proton Flux Event 5-22-13
Issue Time: 2013 May 23 0348 UTC ALERT: Proton Event 10MeV Integral Flux exceeded 1000pfu Begin Time: 2013 May 23 0330 UTC NOAA Scale: S3 – Strong Potential Impacts: Radiation – Passengers and crew in high latitude, high altitude flights may experience increasing radiation exposures. Astronauts on EVA (extra-vehicular activity) are exposed to elevated radiation levels. Spacecraft – Single-event upsets to satellite operations, noise in imaging systems, and slight reduction of efficiency in solar panels are likely. Radio – Degraded or episodically blacked-out polar HF (high frequency) radio propagation. NOAA Space Weather Scales (meaning of R1, S1, Etc.) can be found at http://www.knowledgeorb.com/current-space-weather/noaa-space-weather-scales/ [adrotate group="1"] For more detailed current Space Weather visit KnowledgeOrb Space Weather at http://www.knowledgeorb.com/current-space-weather/ Aurora viewing updates can be seen on the KnowledgeOrb Aurora viewing page. http://www.knowledgeorb.com/current-aurora-borealis-activity-viewing/ 2013 May 23 0305 UTC Solar-terrestrial indices for 22 May follow. Solar flux 133 and estimated planetary A-index 12. The estimated planetary K-index at 0300 UTC on 23 May was 2. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Solar radiation storms reaching the S2 level [...]
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Second Hole Drilled by Mars Curiosity Rover
(Source NASA). – NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has used the drill on its robotic arm to collect a powdered sample from the interior of a rock called “Cumberland.” Plans call for delivering portions of the sample in coming days to laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is only the second time that a sample has been collected from inside a rock on Mars. The first was Curiosity’s drilling at a target called “John Klein” three months ago. Cumberland resembles John Klein and lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) farther west. Both are within a shallow depression called “Yellowknife Bay.” The hole that Curiosity drilled into Cumberland on May 19 is about 0.6 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 2.6 inches (6.6 centimeters) deep. The science team expects to use analysis of material from Cumberland to check findings from John Klein. Preliminary findings from analysis of John Klein rock powder by Curiosity’s onboard laboratory instruments indicate that the location long ago had environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. The favorable conditions included the key elemental [...]
