Researchers Ramon Lopez
(University of Texas, El Paso)
and Jeff Hughes
(Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling)

"Space weather" reached down and touched life on the surface of our planet. Researchers Jeff Hughes (CISM) and Ramon Lopez (University of Texas, El Paso) define space weather by comparison to the more familiar weather we experience here on Earth.

Astronaut Marsha Ivins describes how space "hail" - micro-meteorites - made holes in LDEF, the "Long Duration Exposure Facility" satellite which she helped recover during one of her space flights.

NASA astronaut, Marsha Ivins, describes how "space hail" - micrometeorites - damaged the experimental Long Duration Exposure Facility satellite

Ernie Hildner, director of NOAA's Space Environment Center, the "World Warning Center" for space weather

Ernie Hildner of NOAA's Space Environment Center ticks off the cost of unanticipated space weather events. In our increasingly high-tech world, disruptions like that of 1989 could reach billions of dollars and potentially could lead to loss of life.