Sep 6, 2017
Ana Guzman, ideaXme's Space ambassador roams the
Planet interviewing the foremost innovators, explorers and creators
within the Space industry. Here, she interviews Dr Eric Christian,
Lead scientist, Heliophysics Laboratory, NASA. First published
immediately prior to the solar eclipse on 21 August 2017. In Ana's
words: Since the beginning of the modern era, the interest in the
sun has been increasingly scientific in nature. For decades now,
many instruments on Earth and in space have been used to study the
sun. They have discovered many things such as solar flares, sun
spots and radiation levels to name a few. NASA’s Heliophysics
laboratory will be keeping busy in the coming year with new
projects to further understand the sun’s behavior and its effects
on the solar system including Earth. Solar Eclipse and
Probe Mission: On August 21st, there will be a total solar
eclipse visible along a diagonal path across the United
States. A partial eclipse will be seen by a greater area
across the North American continent. NASA has several events
planned and phone apps available for public engagement and data
collection.
In the summer of 2018, the Parker Solar Probe will launch on a
Delta IV heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida and
begin its seven year flight to the sun. It is said that the probe
will “touch the sun” because it is tasked to fly through the star’s
atmosphere, the corona - the closest than any other
vehicle. While flying through the extremely hot corona, the
probe will be collecting valuable data to further understand how
solar winds are formed.
The Interview: ideaXme had the
opportunity to interview Dr. Eric Christian, Senior Research
Scientist at NASA’s Heliophysics Laboratory to talk about the
upcoming solar eclipse and Parker Solar Probe mission. Dr.
Christian provides us interesting details on these two upcoming
events including the data being collected and how it can help us
better understand the sun’s behavior and its effects on
Earth. It is believed that this data will help immensely in
the forecasting of solar weather affecting our communications and
energy infrastructures in the future.
Inspiration: As a child, Dr. Christian’s academic
strengths were always in the maths and sciences. When he was 8
years old, he witnessed the Apollo lunar landing missions and that
is what initially inspired him to work at NASA. About ten
years ago, he had the fortune of meeting and chatting a short while
with his childhood hero Neil Armstrong. You can watch our Skype
interview in its entirety on ideaXme YouTube Channel. Credit: By
Ana Guzman ideaXme Space Ambassador. Images provided by NASA.
Additional Links: For additional information
regarding these upcoming solar events, click on the links below:
Parker Solar Probe: https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe-humanity-s-first-visit-to-a-star
Solar Eclipse: https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/
NASA’s Heliophysics Division: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/heliophysics/
Dr. Eric Christian’s Bio: https://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/eric.r.christian
Follow on Twitter: Ana Guzman @mupwa and ideaXme @ideaxm Ana comes
to ideaXme with nine years experience working at NASA’s Johnson
Space Center serving different roles in their communications and
multimedia teams. As part of the ideaXme team, she wishes to
continue working in outreach and educating the public in different
topics regarding all things space. ideaXme is currently looking for
ambassadors in the fields of Human Rights, Law, STEM, Entertainment
and Health just to name a few. Send your inquiries ideaxme.mail@gmail.com. You can also
follow ideaXme on YouTube, iTunes and at radioideaxme.com. "The humans
behind the big ideas shaping our world. Help and inspiration for
future creators and for all those who love big ideas and great
stories."