2001 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID |
Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| HESSI SPACECRAFT TO STEAL SECRETS OF SOLAR
EXPLOSIONS WITH X-RAY VISION | G01-040 |
06/01/01 | 00:14:58 | The High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) will study massive explosions in the
atmosphere of the Sun with a unique kind of X-ray vision to
understand how they pack a punch of up to a billion megatons of TNT.
Within these gigantic explosions, called solar flares, magnetic
fields twist, snap and recombine, blasting particles to almost the
speed of light and firing solar gas to tens of millions of degrees,
causing it to sizzle with high-energy radiation (X-rays and gamma
rays). The X-rays that reach the Earth change the structure of our
planet's electrically charged upper atmosphere (ionosphere),
disturbing the technological infrastructure that we have become so
dependent upon for communications.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): HESSI Spacecraft Animation
- The Sun has a mystery that scientists would like to
unravel. It can take magnetic energy and turn it into a stunningly
powerful blast of heat, light, and radiation. The HESSI spacecraft
will produce unprecedented high-fidelity movies of flares in their
highest-energy emissions, finally allowing scientists to unlock the
secrets of how these awesome detonations are generated. HESSI is
scheduled to launch June 7, 2001, from Cape Canaveral Air Force
Station, FL, on a Pegasus rocket.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Solar
Highlights - Scientists are launching HESSI during "solar
max," the period where the most intense flares occur. HESSI is
expected to gather data on thousands of flares during its
two-to-three-year mission. Working together with a fleet of other
spacecraft - Yohkoh, SOHO, GOES and TRACE for flare radiation and
WIND, ACE, Ulysses, and Voyager for particle detection - HESSI will
provide a vital insight into the impulsive energy release and
particle acceleration processes at the Sun.
Satellite Acronyms:
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft (SOHO)
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES)
Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE)
a) Solar Max - The Sun has an activity cycle of eleven years.
During this peak of maximum solar activity the solar flares occur
more frequently and tend to be larger than when the Sun is in it's
"quiet" phase. Solar max can be seen in the comparison of 1996 and
2000 SOHO solar images.
Courtesy: NASA / ESA
b) Bastille Day Flare and Proton Storm - The "Bastille Day"
storm began with a powerful x-class solar flare captured in this
sequence by SOHO's Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT).
Notice the rapid and intense variation in brightness associated with
the flare. The flare released streams of high-energy protons, which
peppered EIT's sensors just six minutes later. These images were
captured July 14, 2000.
Courtesy: NASA/ESA
c) Bastille Day Flare - Close-Up - This close-up view of the
"Bastille Day" flare was captured by NASA's Transition Region and
Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft on July 14, 2000.
Courtesy: NASA/ESA
d) Vibrating Coronal Loops - Huge loops and coils of heated
coronal gas vibrate like a piano string hit by its hammer following
the blast wave from a solar flare. It is those vibrations, which heat
the corona to intense temperatures, often many times hotter than the
surface of the sun itself. Recent observations by the Transition
Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft indicate that the
corona may be millions of times more viscous than previously
expected, thus explaining why the medium of solar plasma has a higher
than expected level of molecular friction.
Courtesy: NASA/Stanford Lockheed Institute for Space Research
e) June 2000 Solar Flare - This view from SOHO's Extreme
ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) shows two powerful x-class solar
flares in rapid succession. The flares were associated with large
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) that blasted billions of tons of
matter off the surface of the Sun at speeds of up to two million
miles per hour. These images were captured on June 6, 2000.
Courtesy: NASA/ESA
f) February 2000 Solar Flare- The Sun has a magnetic field,
but is far more complex than Earth's. The closer the Sun is to solar
maximum, the more active the magnetic field becomes, causing solar
flares (bright white flashes) and loops of magnetic activity as seen
by the EIT instrument on SOHO February 2000. This is the year of the
solar maximum.
Courtesy: NASA/ESA
g) May 1998 Solar Flare - The following sequence shows a
solar flare that occurred on May 19, 1998 as captured by TRACE.
Courtesy: NASA/Stanford Lockheed Institute for Space Research
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| ITEM (3): HESSI Processing &
Testing B-Roll - January 12, 2001, HESSI arrives at
Vandenberg Air force Base, CA for testing. B-roll includes
unpacking, testing and attaching solar arrays. Courtesy:
Vandenberg Air Force Space Command
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| ITEM (4): Building
HESSI - Footage of HESSI subsystems being built at the Paul
Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Courtesy: Swiss TV
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| ITEM (5): Interview Excerpts
With Dr. Robert Lin, HESSI Principal Investigator , University of
California, Berkley
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| ITEM (6): Interview Excerpts
With Dr. Brian Dennis, HESSI Mission Scientist, Godard Space Flight
Center
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