NASA sends CU Boulder big bucks for space weather mission
Apr 15th
The University of Colorado Boulder will receive roughly $36 million from NASA to build and operate a space instrument for a mission led by the University of Central Florida that will study Earth’s upper atmosphere to learn more about the disruptive effects of space weather.
The mission, known as the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, involves imaging Earth’s upper atmosphere from a geostationary orbit some 22,000 miles above the planet. The mission is expected to have a direct impact on the understanding of space weather like geomagnetic storms that alter the temperature and composition of Earth’s atmosphere, which can disrupt communication and navigation satellites, affecting everything from automobile GPS and cell phone coverage to television programming.
The GOLD mission, which is being led by research scientist Richard Eastes of the University of Central Florida, will launch aboard a commercial communications satellite as a “hosted” payload. Such payloads, which are secondary to the satellite’s main objective, represent the most cost-effective way to reach geostationary orbit, said CU-Boulder aerospace engineer Mark Lankton of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the GOLD project manager.
“LASP is extremely pleased to be working on this mission with Richard Eastes at the University of Central Florida, who we have been collaborating with for seven years,” said Lankton. “This mission is one of the first to involve a science instrument being launched on a communication satellite, which is a terrific idea and exactly the right way to run a quality mission on a smaller budget.”
The LASP instrument, known as an imaging spectrograph, weighs roughly 60 pounds and is about 2 feet long and about 1 foot tall and 1 foot wide – roughly the size of a microwave oven. It will launch aboard a commercial satellite built by SES Government Solutions in McLean, Va. The LASP instrument will be gathering data on Earth’s upper atmosphere in the far ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“GOLD’s imaging represents a new paradigm for observing the boundary between Earth and space,” said Bill McClintock, the deputy principal investigator on the CU-Boulder spectrograph and a senior research scientist at LASP. “It will revolutionize our understanding of how the sun and the space environment affect our upper atmosphere.”
A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit that completes one revolution in the same amount of time it takes for the Earth to rotate once on its polar axis. “We will be able to view almost a complete hemisphere of the Earth, almost all the time, with this orbit,” said Lankton.
The mission scientists will be looking for the effects of space weather on the upper atmosphere — the ionosphere and thermosphere located roughly 50 miles to 350 miles above Earth – caused by the sun and Earth’s lower atmosphere, said Lankton. “The giant driver is the sun, including geomagnetic storms that can cause bright auroras and the disruption of satellite communications,” he said.
Lankton said the science team also will investigate the effects that atmospheric waves and tides from Earth’s lower atmosphere have on the thermosphere-ionosphere system. The mission will make use of other instruments gathering data on the sun, including LASP’s $42 million Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment flying on NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Roughly 40 LASP researchers will be working on the GOLD mission when it is at full strength, including five to 10 students, split about evenly between undergraduates and graduates, said Lankton. Other participants in the GOLD mission include the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, the University of California, Berkeley, Computational Physics Inc. of Springfield, Va., and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The GOLD mission is part of NASA’s new Heliospheric Explorer Program designed to provide space observations to study Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere. The mission is slated for launch in 2017. NASA Explorer missions of opportunity, such as GOLD, are capped at $55 million each.
by CU media relations
CU Women’s Basketball Celebrates Remarkable 2012-13 Season
Apr 15th
Colorado’s coaching staff recognized 14 letterwinners, including the Buffaloes’ three seniors Chucky Jeffery, Meagan Malcolm-Peck and Brenna Malcolm-Peck. In addition, third-year head coach Linda Lappe and her staff also handed out several individual awards.
Sophomore Lexy Kresl and freshman Lauren Huggins shared the Crystal Ford-Adams Scholar-Athlete Award.
An integrative physiology major, Kresl was named to the Academic All-Pac-12 Conference second team and was the only underclassman out of the 10 student-athletes that made one of the all-academic squads. She averaged 6.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season and led the Buffaloes in 3-point field goals with 34.
A biochemistry major, Huggins has made the transition from high school to the college classroom smoothly, capturing the team’s best GPA during the 2012 fall semester and earning Dean’s List honors. She missed the final three months of the season with a stress fracture in her leg, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in the five games she appeared in. It’s the second straight year a freshman has been recognized with the Crystal Ford-Adams Scholar-Athlete Award, as Kresl captured the honor last year.
Jeffery received the Lisa Van Goor rebounding award after leading the Buffaloes at 8.2 boards per contest. The award was presented by Van Goor, CU’s all-time leading rebounder. Jeffery ranked sixth in the Pac-12 Conference in rebounding and was especially tough on the defensive end. During Pac-12 play, she netted 7.1 defensive rebounds per game, ranking second on the conference charts. Jeffery had 11 double-figure rebounding games, 10 of which resulted in double-doubles.
Meagan Malcolm-Peck was presented the Ceal Barry Colorado Pride Award, named after the CU Athletic Hall of Fame coach. In the spirit of the Coaches Award given out by Barry during her 22-year career on the Buffaloes bench, this award is given to the player who shows pride in the program through leadership on the court, campus and community, work ethic on the court and in the classroom and who is unselfish and coachable.
A Boulder native, Malcolm-Peck, literally grew up around the Colorado basketball program attending Barry’s basketball camps as a youngster and watching her future team annually play on a national stage. She joined Colorado as a freshman in 2009 and over four years helped to build the program back to national prominence. Throughout her four years at Colorado, she filled any role needed, whether it be in a starting role or off the bench; and most importantly in the role of team captain as a senior.
Colorado finished the 2012-13 season at 25-7 overall and fourth place in the Pac-12 at 13-5. The Buffaloes, who were ranked No. 19 in the final AP Top 25 poll, advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time in team history and first time since 2004.
Troy Andre
Assistant SID/Internet Managing Editor
University of Colorado
CUBuffs.com
O: 303-492-4672 C: 303-903-3654
troy.andre@colorado.edu
Irish delegation studies Boulder’s Open Space access for people with disabilities
Apr 15th
The City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) department hosted
a delegation from Ireland on Thursday, April 11. The group came to Boulder and Denver to examine issues of access for people with disabilities in education, housing and the workplace.
Ten leaders in several fields including education, human services, policy and architecture, arranged the tour to learn more about what OSMP has done to provide accessible trails that enable people in wheelchairs and those with other disabilities to enjoy and experience nature. OSMP has developed several trails, facilities and fishing areas designed to be used for people with disabilities.
The delegation was sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Irish Institute at Boston College, whose mission is to support the peace and reconciliation process between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
For questions about trail access for people with disabilities on OSMP properties, please call 303-441-3440 or visit www.OSMP.org.
City of Boulder media affairs
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