Posts tagged radio
CU-BOULDER FACULTY, STUDENTS PART OF NASA’S JUNO MISSION TO JUPITER
Aug 1st
Several University of Colorado Boulder faculty and students are participating in NASA’s Juno Mission to Jupiter, now slated for launch Aug. 5 from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center and which is expected to help steer scientists toward the right recipe for planet-making.
The primary goal of the mission is to understand the origin and evolution of the massive gas planet, said CU-Boulder Professor Fran Bagenal of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, a mission co-investigator. The data should reveal not only the conditions of the early solar system, but also help scientists to better understand the hundreds of planetary systems recently discovered around other stars, she said.
After the sun formed, Jupiter got the majority of the “leftovers,” said Juno Mission principal investigator Scott Bolton from the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Since Jupiter has a larger mass than all of the other planets in the solar system combined, scientists believe it holds the keys to understanding how the planets formed and why some are rocky and others are gas giants, Bagenal said.
Once Juno reaches Jupiter orbit in 2016 after a 400-million-mile trip, the spacecraft will orbit the planet’s poles 33 times, skimming roughly 3,000 miles above the cloud tops in a region below Jupiter’s powerful radiation belts. While the spacecraft itself is about the size of a Volkswagen and encased in a protective radiation vault, its three solar panels that will unfurl in space will make the spinning spacecraft more than 65 feet in diameter.
Bagenal said scientists were continually surprised by the data beamed back from NASA’s Galileo mission to Jupiter, which arrived at the planet in 1995 and carried 16 instruments, including two developed by CU-Boulder’s LASP. Among other discoveries, Galileo scientists identified the global structure and dynamics of the planet’s magnetic activity, confirmed the presence of ammonia clouds in its atmosphere and discovered that one of its moons, Europa, has a global ocean beneath a thick crust of ice.
“One of the biggest questions left after the Galileo mission was how much water there is in Jupiter’s atmosphere,” said Bagenal. “The amount of water is key, because water played a huge role in the formation of the solar system.” Bagenal also is a professor in the astrophysical and planetary sciences department.
“Most of us know that water absorbs microwaves, because that is what happens when you put a cup of tea in your microwave oven,” said Bagenal. “We are going to be using a microwave detector and fly just over the clouds of Jupiter, looking down at different cloud depths to measure the amounts of water below. It’s a bit like doing a CT scan of Jupiter’s dense clouds.”
Bagenal’s role in the mission is to coordinate observations of Jupiter’s magnetosphere –the area of space around the planet that is controlled by its magnetic field. She and her collaborators are especially interested in understanding the processes that control auroral activity at the planet’s poles — its northern and southern lights — and assess the roles of the planet’s strong magnetic field on its surroundings.
In addition to collaborating closely with the Juno science team, Bagenal is working with CU-Boulder Professor Robert Ergun of LASP, who has extensively studied Earth’s magnetosphere and associated polar auroras. Ergun will use his expertise in auroral physics as part of the mission to compare the physical processes at Jupiter with those seen on Earth.
“This will be the first time anyone has flown over the poles of Jupiter to look directly down on the aurora,” said Bagenal. “We will be flying the spacecraft through regions where charged particles are accelerated to the point of bombarding the atmosphere of Jupiter hard enough to make it glow at the poles.”
Bagenal also is working with LASP Research Associate Peter Delomere on the Jovian magnetosphere studies and with physics department graduate student Mariel Desroche, who is modeling the outer region of Jupiter’s magnetosphere as part of the Juno effort.
CU-Boulder senior Dinesh Costlow of the astrophysical and planetary sciences department also is collaborating with Bagenal and the Juno science team by using computer models to simulate the trajectory of the spacecraft through all 33 individual orbits as it passes through Jupiter’s magnetosphere. “We are interested in finding the optimal places in orbit to point the spacecraft for our data collection,” he said.
Costlow, who is from Auburn, Maine, said he knew CU-Boulder had a good astronomy program before he ever set foot on campus. “Everything fell into place, and I feel very lucky to have an opportunity to work on this mission,” Costlow said. “I think graduate school may be my next step, and after that maybe I can make a career out of this kind of planetary research.”
By mapping Jupiter’s gravitational and magnetic fields, mission scientists should be able to see the planet’s interior structure and determine if it has a rocky iron core — a core that some scientists believe could be 15 or 20 times the size of Earth. But because of the immense pressure in the Jovian atmosphere, any spacecraft seeking the core would be crushed long before it neared the middle of the planet, much as the Galileo spacecraft was crushed after it was crashed into the planet’s clouds after the mission concluded in 2003.
“My biggest hope is that all of our predictions about Jupiter are wrong, and that we find something completely different than what we expect,” said Bagenal. “When our preconceived notions are off, it shows us we can never become complacent. New data from the solar system’s planets keeps us excited enough to re-visit them to learn more about the history and fate of our solar system.”
The Juno spacecraft is carrying 11 experiments to probe the planet’s mass, magnetic field, charged particles, auroras, plasma, radio waves, thermal and ultraviolet emissions, and includes a camera to provide images of the colorful Jovian cloud tops. The Juno Mission is being managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Denver built the spacecraft, which will be launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
-CU-
Flood season begins in Boulder Here’s how to be prepared
Apr 8th
Boulder is the number one flash flood risk community in Colorado due to its location at the mouth of Boulder Canyon, the number of people who live and work within the Boulder Creek floodplain, and the numerous other drainage basins running through the city. Therefore, flood safety and preparation is always a high priority for the community. However, following the Fourmile Canyon Fire, there is a lack of vegetation and permeable soil in the burn area. This creates an increased possibility of rain run-off and flooding on both Boulder Creek and Fourmile Canyon Creek if a severe storm were to occur over the burn area. This increased flood potential could last anywhere from 2 to 10 years until the landscape starts to recover.
The City of Boulder and its partners are working together to prepare for the season and to educate community members on how to prepare.
What can you do?
Be alert. It can be raining in the mountains and dry in Boulder. Rainfall in the burn area could result in:
Muddy or murky creek water downstream.
Creek levels rising more quickly.
Higher frequency of flooded underpasses.
Increased possibility of flash flooding.
If it is raining, avoid seeking shelter in underpasses. Many of Boulder’s underpasses serve the double purpose of conveying flood waters. This means that they are meant to flood and to help contain flood waters from overflowing into other areas.
Remember, flash floods can literally occur IN A FLASH during a severe storm. It’s important that residents and people who work in Boulder keep track of the weather and know the dangers. Here are some steps residents and employees can take to increase their safety if a flood event should occur in Boulder:
Before a flood – Be ready:
Have a plan for where to meet in an emergency and make sure children know where to go when they are at school or away from home.
Keep an emergency kit accessible. Include a battery-powered radio, extra batteries, flashlights, rubber boots and gloves, first-aid supplies, medicines, water stored in tightly-sealed containers and food that requires no cooking or refrigeration.
If you’re concerned about your property being flooded, consider purchasing flood insurance. A homeowner’s insurance policy will not cover flood damage. There is a 30-day waiting period before new coverage goes into effect.
Fill out a Family Flood Action Plan and post it in your home. Visit www.boulderfloodinfo.net to print off a Family Flood Action Plan or pick one up at one of the Boulder Public Library branches or at the city’s Municipal Building at 1777 Broadway.
Sign up to get emergency alerts sent to you on your phone, email or Twitter account at www.BoCo911Alert.com.
During a flood:
Move to higher ground immediately.
Stay out of flowing waters. Swift moving waters may sweep people away.
Avoid driving through flooded areas. Cars float in 18 inches of water and half of all flood fatalities are auto related.
Stay away from power lines and electrical wires. Electrocution is the number two killer in floods.
If time allows, turn off electricity and gas.
When an emergency warning is issued by sirens, radio or other media, seek response information immediately. Tune radios to 850 AM or televisions to local news stations.
After a flood:
Stay away from disaster areas until authorized. Clean everything that got wet to avoid bacteria and mold.
Continue to monitor local media for disaster and recovery information.
There is no way to predict whether flooding will occur. It is dependent on many variables including intensity, duration and location of storms as well as existing soil conditions. The best course of action is to be alert and be prepared.
The city maintains a flood information website that can help residents prepare before, during and after a flood event. For more information about personal preparedness, visit www.boulderfloodinfo.net. To sign up for emergency alerts on your phone, email or Twitter account, go to www.BoCo911Alert.com.