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- NASA - STEREO - The Rocket
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- Ray Gard
In order to leave the Earths gravitational effect you need speed, and lots of it. From a standing start to over 23,000 miles an hour, NASA's two STEREO spacecraft will be riding a Boeing-made, Delta II rocket in order to get into orbit.
We join the STEREO spacecraft as they are going through final testing and integration with the rocket at the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida. In late July 2006 the Delta II rocket made its way skyward and sent STEREO on its mission to view the sun in 3-D. It will be the analysis of this 3-D viewing that scientists hope will enable them to better predict the sun's coronal mass ejections, whose solar radiation affect our communications and power grids.
Listen in, as we attempt to explain some of the intricacies of the rocket and the subsequent burning sequence to get our two spacecraft started on their journey to the stars.
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Piece Description
In order to leave the Earths gravitational effect you need speed, and lots of it. From a standing start to over 23,000 miles an hour, NASA's two STEREO spacecraft will be riding a Boeing-made, Delta II rocket in order to get into orbit. We join the STEREO spacecraft as they are going through final testing and integration with the rocket at the Kennedy Space Flight Center in Florida. In late July 2006 the Delta II rocket made its way skyward and sent STEREO on its mission to view the sun in 3-D. It will be the analysis of this 3-D viewing that scientists hope will enable them to better predict the sun's coronal mass ejections, whose solar radiation affect our communications and power grids. Listen in, as we attempt to explain some of the intricacies of the rocket and the subsequent burning sequence to get our two spacecraft started on their journey to the stars.
Transcript
The vehicle of choice for the launch of NASA?s STEREO spacecraft on their path around the sun is the Delta II rocket made by Boeing.
[SOUND BITE ? DELTA II LAUNCH]
The Twin spacecraft recently finish component testing at NASA?s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and were shipped by air-ride truck to the Kennedy Space Flight Center, at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Previously, we talked to Mike Kaiser the Principle Scientist for the two STEREO, or Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory, spacecraft, due to launch late July. We discussed the importance of why two spacecraft, looking at the sun, is important in our ability to predict Solar Weather. Our investigation revealed that an ability to predict solar weather would enable us to mitigate effects of solar radiation interference, on Electrical Components and radio communication, caused by Coronal Mass Ejections....
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
The Sun is our life line. Without it, earth would be a lonely freezing rock in that void, we call space. We use the light and heat that the sun provides, to live, to keep warm, grow food and sustain the photosynthetic cycle that provides the air we breathe. Yet, beyond the life giving properties of the sun, are annoyances that we must cope with on a daily basis.
It is these annoyances that NASA is sending two spacecraft, called STEREO, to capture data and image the sun in 3-D.
The Launch date is late July, in this series we are going behind the closed doors of NASA to look at what really happens in the last months before launch and better understand what processes take place on the lesser publicized missions.
Join us in this episode, as we talk with the principal scientist Mike Kaiser and investigate why two spacecraft looking at the sun are so beneficial to us
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