May 19, 2011
The Catholic University of America has been awarded a cooperative agreement worth more than $8 million from NASA to establish a science center for collaborative research in solar-heliospheric sciences at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Under this agreement, CUA and NASA Goddard scientists will cooperatively carry out observational, experimental, and theoretical research in support of NASA's strategic heliophysics science objectives. Fred Bruhweiler, professor of physics and director of CUA's Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences (IACS), will serve as the principal investigator for CUA.
NASA hopes that the study of heliophysics will help researchers advance space exploration and better understand space weather and how planets are affected by solar variability, according to Bruhweiler.
The sun generates large-scale magnetic fields that flip polarity (meaning the magnetic fields flip the direction they're pointing to, either to the north or south pole of the sun) roughly every 11 years, driving a million-mile-per-hour ionized plasma that emanates from the sun called the solar wind, Bruhweiler explains. Both the magnetic field and the ionized particles of the solar wind are collectively known as the heliosphere. This heliosphere interacts with the planets in our solar system, including Earth.
Bruhweiler notes that an important goal of the research is to understand gigantic bursts in the solar wind that arise from magnetic explosions on the surface of the sun. "The bursts of charged particles then travel to Earth and produce geomagnetic storms and the often-accompanying phenomenon known in the northern hemisphere as the Aurora Borealis or 'Northern Lights,' " he says.
These geomagnetic storms also can interfere with spacecraft electronics and cause severe blackouts in electrical power grids.
"An important goal of solar and heliospheric research is being able to predict how and when this activity (space weather) will occur," explains Bruhweiler. "This research has a very important economic impact and will affect the safety of future astronauts, who, in their journeys to other planets, will be exposed to these bursts of charged particles in the solar wind."
In addition, Bruhweiler notes that much remains uncertain on how long-term variations in solar wind and the sun's energy output influence Earth's climate. He says that interactions with Earth's atmosphere are extremely complex and are only now beginning to be understood.
Bruhweiler explains that participating in this research is especially beneficial to CUA.
"What is exciting for CUA is that NASA wants to support CUA in the education of new scientists," he says. "By providing support to CUA faculty, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, NASA will be helping us to build upon our already successful graduate program in space physics at CUA. This is a very exciting time for our University. This agreement represents the culmination of a very successful partnership between CUA's IACS in the Department of Physics and NASA over the past 30 years."
Scientists from the University of Michigan, Hampton University, and George Mason University will also serve as team members on the project.
The total value of the agreement is estimated at $8,542,928, and runs from May 2011 through May 2016, with the ability to extend for an additional five years if deemed appropriate by the federal government.