Space environment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Space environment is a branch of astronautics, aerospace engineering and astronomy that seeks to understand and address conditions existing in space that would impact both the operation of spacecraft and also affect our planet's atmosphere and geomagnetic field.

Problems for spacecraft can include radiation, space debris, upper atmospheric drag, and the solar wind. Effects on Earth of space environmental conditions can include ionospheric storms, temporary decreases in ozone densities, disruption to radio communication, to GPS signals and submarine positioning. Some scientists also theorize links between sunspot activity and ice ages. [1]

Solutions explored by scientists and engineers in the area of space environment study include, but are not limited to, spacecraft shielding, various collision detection systems, and atmospheric models to predict drag effects encountered in lower orbits and during reentery.

The field often overlaps with the disciplines of astrophysics, atmospheric science, space physics, and geophysics, albeit with a stronger emphasis on application.

The United States government maintains a Space Weather Prediction Center at Boulder, Colorado. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). SWPC is one of the National Weather Service's (NWS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).