WEBVTT 1 00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:07.719 Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos 2 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:12.279 with our soothing Bedtime Astronomie podcast. Each episode offers a 3 00:00:12.359 --> 00:00:16.320 gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for 4 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.239 unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries 5 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.440 of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful 6 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:26.839 slumber under the night sky. 7 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:31.039 Welcome Today, we are peering through the invisible really to 8 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:35.079 understand just how enormous and maybe how fragile our planet's 9 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:36.880 atmospheric bubble actually is. 10 00:00:37.159 --> 00:00:37.759 Quite something. 11 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.439 Yeah, forget that clean, neat blue line you see in 12 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.920 photos from space. Earth is actually well hiding this truly 13 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:49.079 massive dynamic halo of gas, right, and it stretches what 14 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:52.000 a million miles out into the cosmos. 15 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:55.439 It's an astounding concept. Really. It fundamentally redefines where we 16 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:57.799 think our planet ends. Yeah, we're used to thinking of 17 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.759 the atmosphere stopping neatly, you know, maybe a few hundred 18 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.960 miles up in the thermosphere. Sure, but this outer layer, 19 00:01:04.280 --> 00:01:08.480 often called the geo corona, that's our true sprawling frontier. 20 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:11.560 And now, for the first time, NASA is dedicating a 21 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:13.959 mission solely to understanding it, and that's. 22 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.079 Our mission today. We're going to unpack the story and 23 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:21.319 the scientific promise behind the Carruthers Geocrona Observatory or CGO. 24 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.000 This isn't just about taking pictures. It's about getting the 25 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:27.959 first continuous, comprehensive movies of this dynamic invisible layer of 26 00:01:27.959 --> 00:01:29.239 the atmosphere. 27 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:29.640 Real time dynamics. 28 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:32.640 We've got a whole stack of sources detailing the history, 29 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:37.040 the discovery, the really cutting edge tack involved, and what 30 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:39.159 it all means scientifically. 31 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:42.359 And this knowledge it matters profoundly to you listening. Yeah, 32 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.280 this is really your shortcut to understanding the complex environment 33 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:50.040 of near Earth space. It has huge implications like what 34 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:54.719 well it impacts everything from how we predict dangerous space weather, 35 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:58.239 you know, the stuff that threatens satellites, even our infrastructure 36 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:02.280 on the ground. Okay, and maybe most immediately, how we 37 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:05.760 protect the Artemis astronauts. They'll soon be traveling right through 38 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:07.719 this region on their way to the Moon. 39 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:09.879 Right through this invisible halo exactly. 40 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:12.599 So we're going to map Earth's invisible reach and explain 41 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.599 why it really governs our cosmic future in some important ways. 42 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:19.400 Okay, let's unpack this. We should probably start with the basics, 43 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:22.439 the fundamental physics. We've used a couple of big terms already, 44 00:02:22.520 --> 00:02:26.080 the exosphere and the geo corona, right before we dive 45 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.319 into the new mission itself, which sounds like an engineering marvel. 46 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:32.680 We need to know what this invisible barrier actually is, 47 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.120 what's it made of? How does it stretch so darn far? 48 00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:40.639 Absolutely, the exosphere is the key thing here. Structurally speaking. 49 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:44.199 It is the outermost layer, really the most tenuous layer 50 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:45.439 of our atmosphere. 51 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:46.680 How far up does it start? 52 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:52.240 It starts roughly three hundred to maybe six hundred miles up. 53 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:55.240 It varies a bit, depends on solar activity. Okay, think 54 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:58.000 of it as the boundary zone. It's where the atmosphere 55 00:02:58.360 --> 00:03:04.039 just gradually, almost chaotically, dissipates into the vacuum of interplanetary space. 56 00:03:04.439 --> 00:03:08.000 So we're talking way above the International Space Station, way 57 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:09.719 above most low Earth satellite. 58 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:10.800 Oh yeah, much higher. 59 00:03:10.879 --> 00:03:14.000 If it's so diffuse, so thin, what's actually in it? 60 00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:17.080 Is it just like a random mix of gases that floated. 61 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:20.599 Up mostly No. Theorists figured this out a long time ago, 62 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.800 and we've confirmed it now. It's overwhelmingly made. The lightest 63 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.400 element there is neutral hydrogen. 64 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:27.919 Atoms just hydrogen. Why hydrogen? 65 00:03:28.120 --> 00:03:30.599 Well, because the atmosphere gets progressively hotter as you go 66 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:33.240 up through the thermosphere right right, So the atoms way 67 00:03:33.319 --> 00:03:36.039 up at this altitude, they get really energized. They're moving 68 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:37.039 at extreme speeds. 69 00:03:37.599 --> 00:03:40.759 Ah. So this sounds like that process thermal escape, where 70 00:03:40.759 --> 00:03:43.039 things get so hot and move so fast they can 71 00:03:43.159 --> 00:03:44.599 just overcome gravity. 72 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.919 That's exactly the mechanism. Hydrogen atoms are incredibly light, so 73 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:52.400 light that when they reach the exosphere, their thermal velocity 74 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.000 their speed is often high enough to actually exceed Earth's 75 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:56.919 escape velocity. 76 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:57.599 They can just leave. 77 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:00.479 They can just leave. I mean, these individual atoms are 78 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:04.120 traveling in these chaotic, ballistic paths. Some fall back towards 79 00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.879 Earth's sure, but many escape entirely. They just slowly bleed 80 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:11.039 off into interplanetary space. It's happening constantly. 81 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:15.120 Wow. Okay, So if it's just individual hydrogen atoms floating around, 82 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:17.920 really spread out, why can't we see it. You call 83 00:04:17.959 --> 00:04:19.839 it a halo, which makes me think of light. But 84 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.839 you also said it's invisible. 85 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:24.240 Right, good question. That's where the geocrona comes in. The 86 00:04:24.279 --> 00:04:28.560 geocrona is basically the invisible light show that reveals the shape, 87 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.319 the density, and the extent of the exosphere. Ok, it's 88 00:04:31.319 --> 00:04:34.480 a faint halo, but it's made of ultraviolet light UV 89 00:04:34.600 --> 00:04:38.639 light specifically, it's radiation caused by sunlight interacting with those 90 00:04:38.720 --> 00:04:41.360 hydrogen atoms solar lime and alpha light. 91 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:45.759 To be precise, liman alpha, that's the characteristic spectral line 92 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.279 of hydrogen, isn't it exactly? 93 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:50.839 So when the hydrogen atoms way out there in the 94 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:54.319 exosphere get hit by this liman alpha radiation coming from 95 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:57.639 the Sun, they absorb that energy for a split second, 96 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.399 and then they immediately rea or scatter that same UV 97 00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:06.319 photon ah, like a tiny echo sort of. Yeah, And 98 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:10.519 this scattering process creates a measurable glow, but it's incredibly faint, 99 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:13.439 and it's in the UV spectrum, which our eyes can't see. 100 00:05:13.519 --> 00:05:15.879 So that faint UV glow is the geo corona. 101 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.920 That's the geo corona, and you need very specialized instruments 102 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:22.040 UV cameras to actually map its shape and monitor how 103 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:23.040 it changes over time. 104 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.240 So we've got this enormous escaping cloud of hydrogen that's 105 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:29.959 the exosphere, and it's revealed only by its faint UV glow. 106 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:31.040 That's the Geo Corona. 107 00:05:31.319 --> 00:05:31.800 You got it. 108 00:05:32.360 --> 00:05:35.360 What's fascinating, though, is that even before this brand new mission, 109 00:05:35.759 --> 00:05:38.040 scientists kind of knew the Geo Corona was hiding this 110 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:41.199 massive secret about how big our atmosphere really is. 111 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:45.199 That's right before cgo, the new NASA effort, we had 112 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:50.000 very little comprehensive data, just snapshots. Really, scientists could only speculate, 113 00:05:50.439 --> 00:05:54.759 sometimes wildly, about how far the atmosphere truly extended, what were. 114 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:57.240 The boundaries, how did it all work internally exactly? 115 00:05:57.480 --> 00:05:59.800 And that uncertainty was entirely rooted in the fact that 116 00:05:59.800 --> 00:06:02.120 we can couldn't see it clearly, not from Earth, not 117 00:06:02.199 --> 00:06:04.600 even from low Earth orbit. You really need to get 118 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.600 outside the halo to properly measure the. 119 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:09.000 Halo, which brings us perfectly to a moment in space 120 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:12.959 history that's absolutely fundamental here. It's why this new observatory 121 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.839 is needed, and it explains the name we have to 122 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.759 talk about. The pioneer, doctor George Carruthers. 123 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.839 Yes, doctor Carruthers, a brilliant physicist and engineer. He really 124 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:27.680 dedicated his career to developing these highly specialized untraviolet cameras 125 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:29.439 needed to see the GEO Corona. 126 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:31.839 He was instrumental, wasn't it, and showing that we could 127 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:35.120 actually map this incredibly faint UV light and get meaningful 128 00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:35.759 data from it. 129 00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:39.120 Absolutely, and the sources make clear this wasn't an overnight thing. 130 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:42.399 He didn't just sketch the final instrument on a napkin. No, 131 00:06:42.759 --> 00:06:47.480 he had to launch prototypes first on sounding rockets, test rockets. 132 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.319 It was a methodical, step by step process of refining 133 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:54.600 the technology needed to capture this specific kind of light 134 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:56.560 that nobody had really imaged well before. 135 00:06:56.639 --> 00:06:59.720 It sounds like a huge technical challenge. UV light is 136 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:01.720 gets absorbed. 137 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:05.279 Easily, tremendous challenge. UV is easily absorbed by normal glass, 138 00:07:05.480 --> 00:07:07.879 even by the thin atmosphere itself if you're too close. 139 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:12.439 So building a working camera meant dealing with vacuum technology, 140 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:17.560 unique materials for lenses and detectors, really pushing the envelope. 141 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:19.519 And all that were culminated in this pivotal moment in 142 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:22.839 April nineteen seventy two during the Apollo sixteen mission. 143 00:07:22.920 --> 00:07:25.800 That's the one people think of Apollo from moon rocks geology. 144 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:28.839 Mostly yeah, but this was a key scientific experiment that 145 00:07:28.839 --> 00:07:31.319 had nothing directly to do with the moons. Surface itself. 146 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:31.959 What did they do? 147 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:35.120 As part of their lunar surface activities? The Apollo sixteen 148 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.959 astronauts John Young and Charles Duke set up Coruther's specially 149 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:43.199 developed camera. It was called the far UV Camera Spectrograph. 150 00:07:43.319 --> 00:07:44.959 Right did they put it right there on the Moon 151 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:47.639 in the Descartes Highlands region? Wow? 152 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:50.839 So this was it, This instrument sitting on the Moon's 153 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.639 surface looking back at Earth. It gave humanity our first direct, 154 00:07:55.839 --> 00:07:59.319 clear glimpse of the GEO Corona mapped against the blackness 155 00:07:59.319 --> 00:07:59.800 of space. 156 00:08:00.079 --> 00:08:03.040 The images were historic, groundbreaking. 157 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:05.759 It sounds like a total scientific triumph. But you said 158 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:07.959 earlier there was a twist. This is where it gets 159 00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:08.639 really interesting. 160 00:08:08.720 --> 00:08:08.879 Right. 161 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:13.319 The images were stunning, but they also revealed a massive 162 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:16.800 problem with how we understood the atmosphere's scale exactly. 163 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:20.959 The finding was so unexpected that Laura Waldrop, who's the 164 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:24.839 principal investigator for the new CGEO mission, she described those 165 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.959 original Apollo sixteen results as really shocking. 166 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:30.959 Shocking. Why shocking? What did they see or not see? 167 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:32.919 Well? The shock was that the camera, even though it 168 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.840 was way out there on the Moon, wasn't actually far 169 00:08:34.879 --> 00:08:37.240 into a way to capture the entire Geo corona in 170 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:38.120 its field of view. 171 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.519 Wait, seriously, the camera on the Moon was too close. 172 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.919 Too close. They discovered that the camera was sitting inside 173 00:08:43.960 --> 00:08:49.440 this massive atmosphere kalo itself. Yes, this light, fluffy cloud 174 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:54.159 of hydrogen extended much much farther from Earth's surface than 175 00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:57.720 any existing theory, any model had predicted up to that point. 176 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.879 That is, that's an incredible thought. We sent a camera 177 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.480 a quarter of a million miles away to the Moon, 178 00:09:03.639 --> 00:09:05.879 thinking we get a good look from the outside, and 179 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.600 we realized we were still basically swimming in Earth's atmosphere. 180 00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:11.679 That just tells you everything about the scale we were underestimating. 181 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.480 It completely blew the existing theories out of the water. 182 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:14.879 Uh huh. 183 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:20.639 They were proven incomplete instantly. Before Apollo sixteen, atmospheric models 184 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:21.960 were pretty conservative about. 185 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:23.159 The upper limits, and after. 186 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.559 Based on that initial nineteen seventy two data, the scientific 187 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:31.840 consensus had to shift dramatically. The exosphere. This hydrogen halo 188 00:09:32.279 --> 00:09:34.279 is now thought to stretch at least halfway to the Moon. 189 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:37.559 Halfway, so that's nearly one hundred and twenty thousand. 190 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:38.960 Miles out at a minimum. It's huge. 191 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:41.159 So this is why the new mission is absolutely vital. 192 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:44.799 Apollo sixteen give us this shocking snapshot proved it was massive. 193 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:49.399 But the new Corruther's Geocrona Observatory is designed to finally 194 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:52.360 show us how this gigantic structure moves, how it changes 195 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:53.879 over time, the dynamic. 196 00:09:53.919 --> 00:09:56.559 That's the perfect analogy. It's the difference between looking at 197 00:09:56.600 --> 00:10:00.399 a single photograph of a river versus on watching a 198 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:05.519 continuous high resolution movie of its currents, its eddies, its floods, 199 00:10:05.559 --> 00:10:06.759 its flow patterns. 200 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:08.639 Seeing the whole system in action exactly. 201 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:12.440 And it's really fitting that this modern mission, designed to 202 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.399 finally capture the full scope the dynamics of this region, 203 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:19.840 is named in honor of doctor Carruthers, the scientists who 204 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:22.720 first proved it existed and showed us just how enormous 205 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:23.399 it truly was. 206 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:26.320 Okay, let's shift gears. Then let's talk about the engineering 207 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:29.159 and the orbital mechanics of this new mission. If the 208 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:33.320 Apollo sixteen camera on the Moon was too close, where 209 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:38.080 does the Coruthers Geocorna Observatory CGO need to go to 210 00:10:38.120 --> 00:10:39.120 get that complete view? 211 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:41.639 It needs to get far away, much much farther than 212 00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:44.840 the Moon. The CGO spacecraft itself it's relatively compact, the 213 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.480 sources say about five hundred and thirty one pounds, roughly 214 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:49.120 the size of a love seat sofa. 215 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.799 A scientific love seat floating way out there pretty much. 216 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:54.679 But its destination is the absolutely critical part. 217 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:56.080 So what's its main job out there? 218 00:10:56.360 --> 00:10:59.919 Its primary goal is capture those first continuous movies of 219 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:04.559 Earth's entire exosphere, reveal not just its overall size, but 220 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.240 its complex internal dynamics. 221 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.600 Like how the hydrogen atoms get accelerated, where they escape from, 222 00:11:10.799 --> 00:11:12.399 how the solar wind pushes them. 223 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:17.240 Around precisely that continuous full disc view showing change over time. 224 00:11:17.759 --> 00:11:19.919 That's the data we've literally never had before. 225 00:11:20.240 --> 00:11:23.559 And the launch itself is interesting. CGO isn't going up alone, 226 00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:26.200 is it. It's part of a bigger package deal, which 227 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.360 kind of speaks to its strategic importance in understanding the 228 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:30.559 whole solar environment. 229 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:33.480 That's right. It's launching fingers crossed for the schedule no 230 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:37.120 earlier than Tuesday, September twenty third, from NASA's Kennedy Space 231 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:40.639 Center aboard of SpaceX Falcon nine rocket, and it is 232 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.279 launching alongside two other incredibly critical missions. It's a trio 233 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:48.120 heading out together, creating this powerful synergistic observing platform. 234 00:11:48.159 --> 00:11:50.639 Okay, walk us through the companions. Who else is hitching 235 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:52.840 a ride and how do they connect to CGO. 236 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.000 So launching the CGO, we have NASA's IMAP, that's the 237 00:11:56.000 --> 00:12:00.960 Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe and NOAA's sd WFO L 238 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:05.919 one satellite. SWFO stands for Space Weather follow on and 239 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:07.639 the L one tells you the destination. 240 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:10.600 Ah, so all three are headed for the same spot exactly. 241 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:14.320 They're all heading toward the same very strategic destination point 242 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:15.159 in space. 243 00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.519 Lagrange point one lagarannge point one L one. Let's pause there, 244 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:21.440 because that location is key hy L one. What makes 245 00:12:21.440 --> 00:12:24.240 it so special gratationally that it's the only practical place 246 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:25.639 for CGO to get this view. 247 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:28.440 L one is crucial because it directly addresses that core 248 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.759 lesson from a poly sixteen. You need distance and you 249 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:36.360 need stability. L one is this specific gravitationally balanced point 250 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:36.879 in space. 251 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:37.720 Where is it. 252 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:40.159 It's positioned about one million miles from Earth, but closer 253 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:41.879 to the Sun along the Sun Earth. 254 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:44.559 Line one million miles. Okay, that's roughly four times farther 255 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:45.879 away than the Moon exactly. 256 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:49.679 And that distance finally, gives CGO the clear, unobstructed field 257 00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:52.399 of view it needs to capture the entire geo corona 258 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:53.480 without being inside it. 259 00:12:53.559 --> 00:12:55.919 And why is it stable? What does lagrange point mean? 260 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.759 Okay, So L one is one of five special points 261 00:12:58.759 --> 00:13:02.159 in the Sun Earth system where the gravitational pulls of 262 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:04.960 the Sun and the Earth plus the centrifugal force of 263 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:07.000 orbiting all balance out almost. 264 00:13:06.759 --> 00:13:09.000 Perfectly, like a gravitational saddle point. 265 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:11.559 Kind of Yeah, So placing a spacecraft there means it 266 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.320 can stay relatively stationary with respect to Earth, using minimal 267 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:18.600 fuel for station keeping. It effectively orbits the Sun with 268 00:13:18.679 --> 00:13:21.799 the Earth, but staying in that balance spot ahead of us. 269 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:26.960 So it offers this continuously stable, unhindered viewpoint looking back 270 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:30.519 at Earth, always seeing the sunlit side without Earth ever 271 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:31.440 blocking the view. 272 00:13:31.679 --> 00:13:35.159 That continuous stable perspective is the key. It avoids all 273 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:38.159 the scattered light issues and background interference that hampered the 274 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:42.120 Apollo sixteen view, and it allows for uninterrupted monitoring of 275 00:13:42.159 --> 00:13:44.720 how the geocrona reacts to things coming from the Sun. 276 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:46.159 How long does it take to get there? 277 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:48.840 The cruise phase to reach L one is about four months, 278 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:51.440 and this is maybe a one month checkout period once. 279 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.960 It arrives and then the science starts. 280 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:55.960 Then the primary science phase begins, planned for March twenty 281 00:13:56.000 --> 00:13:58.279 twenty six, and it's set to last for at least 282 00:13:58.320 --> 00:13:58.799 two years. 283 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:01.559 Okay, now let's look back to those co launching partners 284 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:05.960 IMAPP and SWFOL one. Why are they necessary neighbors for 285 00:14:06.039 --> 00:14:09.759 CGO at L one. If CGO is watching the atmospheric response, 286 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:14.200 what are IMAP and SWFOL one doing measuring the cause? 287 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:18.080 It's a perfect setup for cause and effects science. SWFOL 288 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:20.360 one being right there between the Sun and Earth at 289 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:22.440 L one, its main job is to steer at the 290 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.000 Sun looking for trouble exactly, monitoring solar flares, watching for 291 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.720 coronal mass ejections CMEs. It's designed to provide crucial early warnings, 292 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:34.960 sometimes hours before those energetic particles or plasma clouds actually 293 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.720 arrive at Earth. It's NAA's frontline space weather outpost. 294 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:42.399 So SWFAL one is the warning system. It measures the 295 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:44.120 incoming energy blast correct. 296 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:47.159 IMAPP, meanwhile, is a bit different. It's designed to study 297 00:14:47.159 --> 00:14:49.799 the more fundamental physics of the heliosphere. That's the giant 298 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:53.360 magnetic bubble created by the Sun that involves the solar system. 299 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.720 How particles get accelerated by the Sun, and how the 300 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:56.799 solar wind works. 301 00:14:56.879 --> 00:14:59.759 That kind of stuff, right, how the solar wind interacts 302 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:03.039 with the interstellar medium beyond our system. It measures the 303 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:06.600 fundamental properties of the solar wind itself, the magnetic feels 304 00:15:06.600 --> 00:15:10.000 the cosmic rays constantly bombarding us. It's looking at the 305 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.039 ambient conditions in the particle physics. 306 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:16.240 Okay, So SWFOL one sees the big eruptions coming. IM 307 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:19.679 measures the details of the particles and fields within those eruptions, 308 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:22.840 and just the general solar wind. And then CGO takes 309 00:15:22.879 --> 00:15:28.519 the baton. It watches how Earth's tenuous exosphere, our outermost boundary, 310 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.720 reacts in real time to those measured inputs from its neighbors. 311 00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:35.639 Precisely, that systematic view lets scientists directly connect the dots. 312 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:39.360 Here's the solar event from SWFOO one. Here are the 313 00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:42.480 properties of the particles hitting us from IM, and here's 314 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:44.879 exactly how the geocorna responded. From CGO. 315 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.039 It creates this incredibly comprehensive picture of space weather, doesn't 316 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:51.240 it From the eruption source, through its journey across space 317 00:15:51.639 --> 00:15:54.240 right to its impact on our planet's boundary layer. 318 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.480 It maximizes the scientific return for all three missions. They 319 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.720 really complement each other perfectly. Now. 320 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.480 To actually capture these continuous movies from L one, CGO 321 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:08.320 uses two main instruments, right, both specialize UV cameras, but 322 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:09.120 they work together. 323 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.279 Yes, two cameras designed to cover both the close in 324 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:15.919 action near Earth and the vast far out scope simultaneously. 325 00:16:16.120 --> 00:16:17.399 They look at slightly different things. 326 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:18.480 Okay, what's the first one. 327 00:16:18.559 --> 00:16:21.720 The first is the Near Field Imager. As the name suggests, 328 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:24.639 this camera is optimized to look closer to the planet. 329 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.000 It uses a specific range of UV wave of length 330 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:29.080 suited for that region. 331 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.320 The mission scientist said, it lets them zoom up really close. 332 00:16:33.080 --> 00:16:35.200 What are they looking for right near the planet? Isn't 333 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:36.279 the main action way out? 334 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.639 Well, they need to see the source dynamics too. The 335 00:16:38.639 --> 00:16:41.679 Near Field Imager focuses on how the exosphere is varying 336 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.200 closer in, where is the hydrogen coming from, maybe from 337 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.120 water molecules breaking down lower down? What are the initial 338 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:49.159 escape processes? 339 00:16:49.399 --> 00:16:52.679 Ah tracking atoms just starting their journey or maybe falling 340 00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:53.600 back Exactly. 341 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:56.679 It requires different optical properties because the UV light scatter 342 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.519 is actually denser closer to Earth, so you need to 343 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:02.559 filter image that differently than the really faint stuff way out. 344 00:17:02.720 --> 00:17:04.920 Okay, so that's the close up view, then there must 345 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:07.519 be the wide field imager. Is that the one designed 346 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:09.680 to solve the Apollo sixteen problem seeing the. 347 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.759 Whole picture precisely? The wide field imager is built with 348 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.440 a much larger field of view. It lets them see 349 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:19.160 the full scope and expanse of the exosphere, as they 350 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:22.759 put it, and crucially, crucially, how that whole hydrogen cloud 351 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:25.880 is changing far far away from Earth's surface, out where 352 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.920 the atoms are truly making their escape, where the interaction 353 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:31.480 with the solar wind is most direct. That's the region 354 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.720 Apollo sixteen showed us was so unexpectedly huge. 355 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:38.240 So by using different UV wavelengths, different sensitivities, different fields 356 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:41.799 of view, these two imagers together will map not just 357 00:17:41.839 --> 00:17:45.319 where the hydrogen is right, but also things like its velocity, 358 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:48.200 the direction is traveling, the rate at which it's escaping 359 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.680 as it moves through the geo corona and out into space. 360 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:53.359 That's the goal to get the full forty picture three 361 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.400 D space plus time, which. 362 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:59.079 Brings us finally to the really big so what question. Okay, 363 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.400 we map the dynast of this million mile long hydrogen 364 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:06.000 halo in exquisite detail. What does that actually do for 365 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:08.400 us here on Earth and maybe even beyond. 366 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.240 Well, the most immediate, you could say life critical relevance 367 00:18:12.279 --> 00:18:15.759 of this mission is space weather forecasting and tied to 368 00:18:15.799 --> 00:18:17.880 that planetary protection. 369 00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:21.079 Right, which is why it's launching with NOAA's dedicated space 370 00:18:21.119 --> 00:18:23.880 weather satellite SWFOL one exactly. 371 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:27.799 We often talk about solar flares or CMEs reaching Earth, 372 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:32.079 causing those beautiful auroras, but also potentially knocking out power 373 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:35.039 grids or damaging satellites. Yeah, but we have to remember 374 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:38.519 those eruptions, that blast of energy and particles, it hits 375 00:18:38.519 --> 00:18:42.079 the exosphere, in the ionosphere first, that's the front line 376 00:18:42.119 --> 00:18:43.039 it is, and. 377 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:45.720 The exosphere acts as our first line of defense or 378 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:47.440 maybe more like the first point of contact. 379 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:50.680 Yeah, maybe point of contact is better. When those highly 380 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.519 energized particles from the Sun slam into those hydrogen atoms 381 00:18:54.519 --> 00:18:57.839 and the geo corona, it triggers this complex chain reaction 382 00:18:58.119 --> 00:19:02.759 that energy cascades downwards, eventually causing those dangerous geomagnetic storms 383 00:19:02.759 --> 00:19:03.599 closer to the ground. 384 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.400 So understanding how the exosphere initially reacts, does it compress, 385 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:10.200 does it expand does it channel that energy differently depending 386 00:19:10.240 --> 00:19:12.680 on the storm. That's essential for making better predictions. 387 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:16.960 It's absolutely essential for refining the forecast models. If we 388 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.440 know the state of the geocurana before the storm hits 389 00:19:19.640 --> 00:19:22.720 and we see how it responds initially, we can predict 390 00:19:22.759 --> 00:19:24.759 the downstream effects much more accurately. 391 00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:27.920 And this connects directly to human exploration, doesn't it. You 392 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.799 mentioned Artemis, this is a core requirement for protecting those astronauts. 393 00:19:31.880 --> 00:19:36.160 It really is. When astronauts travel beyond Earth's protect magnetic field, 394 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:38.160 which they do on the way to the Moon or Mars, 395 00:19:38.599 --> 00:19:42.119 they are far more vulnerable to intense bursts of radiation 396 00:19:42.279 --> 00:19:44.000 from severe space weather events. 397 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.160 That journey to the Moon takes several days. They need 398 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:50.279 highly accurate real time forecasts to know if a big 399 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:53.160 solar particle event is coming, so they know when to 400 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:55.920 shelter inside the most shielded parts of their spacecraft. 401 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:59.839