NATION'S NEWEST ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE
READY TO DETECT SOLAR STORMS
The nation's newest environmental satellite, GOES-12, is ready to detect solar storms
that could impact billions of dollars worth of assets in industry and commerce. The
Solar X-ray Imager, an advanced instrument for real-time solar forecasting, will provide
the kind of improvements in space weather forecasting that satellite imagery did for
tracking hurricanes. Experts from the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, and the U.S. Air Force will today let us look
at the sun as never before.
WHAT: National news conference showing real-time X-ray images of the sun
WHEN: Thursday, January 30, 2003; 1:00 p.m. EST
WHERE: U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA headquarters
14th and Constitution, NW, Room 4830
Washington, D.C.
WHO:
Gregory Withee, NOAA, assistant administrator for satellite and information services
Retired Navy Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce
for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator
Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, USAF, Director of Weather
Richard Fisher, NASA, director of the Sun/Earth Connection Program
Ernest Hildner, NOAA, director, Space Environment Center
B-ROLL: New SXI images of the sun; forecasting center; satellite operations center
Media Contact: Patricia Viets, NOAA Satellites and Information, (301) 457-5005; Scott
Smullen, NOAA Public Affairs, (202) 482-6090.
