US Govt. Says Space Weather is Serious
“Space weather is a serious matter that can affect human economies around the world,” Tamara Dickinson, a senior policy analyst with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), told attendees at the 2012 Space Weather Enterprise Forum, held 5 June in Washington, D. C.
…Dickenson said that there has been an increased awareness about space weather in the White House and that President Barack Obama recently has requested briefing memos on the topic. She highlighted several efforts the administration is taking related to space weather, including a forthcoming national Earth observation strategy, which could be released in July and will include an assessment of space weather. She explained that the strategy document will be part of the fiscal year 2014 presidential budget request.
Dickinson added that the administration also is acting on earlier federal interagency recommendations to ready the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission for launch in 2014 as a near-term risk reduction measure to provide space weather data; there is concern about the continued healthy operation of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), which has gone well beyond its expected mission life.
Earlier this year, Obama directed OSTP and the national security staff “to aggressively move forward with space weather mitigation efforts,” Dickinson said. Based on the president’s direction, she restructured OSTP’s Geomagnetic Interagency Working Group. “We are focusing on achievable, strategic implementation actions, at least initially focused on the [electricity] grid,” she said.
It’s a long quote, but the topic is of great importance to Americans. The source is the EOS weekly newspaper (June 19 2012), a copy of the article is here.
Here’s a quick overview of what the article tells us:
- The top levels of the US government are well aware of the risks of space weather
- They want to harden the power grid (but they haven’t been able to fund it)
- They know that the Advanced Composition Explorer could fail at any time
- A replacement satellite is expected to launch in 2014
It’s just a matter of hoping that nothing terrible happens before the remedies are in place.
