Carrington sun flareIn his quest to expose the truth and reality of what is going on in this world, uncover cover ups, the facts and sometime non-communication of events, Rick McLastname interviewed Canadian Mr. Manuel of CSA on August 11, 2009.

Many theories exist, including conspiracies and media manipulation. Having initiatives such as McLastname’s do help us to see the trees through the forest. We attempt to bring as much straight forward and honest information as possible the moment we learn about and were able to verify our sources.

Rick McLastname on his recent interview: “This was probably one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of my life, but very exciting and fun! I am very proud of Canada’s contribution! The folks @ CSA have my admiration and respect.
Thanks to Mr. Manuel for taking the time to speak with me and the media relations section of CSA for this!”

Interview with Mr. Manuel of CSA Tues, Aug 11 2009

Rick McLastname: Has there been any deviation in relation to the position of the magnetosphere standoff distance as of recently?

Mr. Manuel: That’s actually my area of research.

Yes, there is always a variation in the standoff distance for the magnetopause because the solar wind varies so much. It can go to very (active) from barely moving at all, so just a couple km/s to maybe up to 1000 km/s.

As far as I know there has been nothing extraordinary happening, right now we’re in a solar minimum and we’re just possibly edging out of it if we’re lucky. I believe that the solar wind density has been very quiet recently, no solar storms or coronal mass ejections or very few anyways, and no major flares. So space has been quite a nice place to be if you’re a satellite.

Rick McLastname: What were the effects of gravitational lensing during the recent coronal hole activity and simultaneous solar eclipse?

Mr. Manuel: It’s an effect that astrophysicists see in very distant galaxies and there is a gravitational effect on space near Earth and near the sun but it’s very small and you really have to work to detect it.

I can’t see any connection.

Rick McLastname: What can you tell me about the recent magnetospheric breaches this summer?

Mr. Manuel: I don’t know of a breach. There’s a mission that the CSA is involved in called THEMIS. It’s a NASA mission, 5 satellites in space. Canada provides a lot of observational equipment. There are auroral observatories arranged underneath the auroral oval and at the same times the satellites are on the magnetic field lines that go through those aurora.

Now that work, that recent mission, which is still actually up there has been leading to new observations and theories. One of those is that they’ve gathered more evidence that the Earth’s magnetic field is more connected to the solar wind magnetic field. Now that we have good observations we’re actually seeing more of these subtle effects.

Rick McLastname: You’re talking about heliospheric magnetic reconnection?

Mr. Manuel: Yes, it happens everywhere there is plasma in a magnetic field.

I’m not aware of any paper like that, but the way the heliosphere works, the solar wind is always on, so that as long as it’s burning as it will do so for a few billion years that (sic) makes it difficult for plasma to re-enter the heliosphere.

It’s like swimming in strong stream against the current but you’re a weak swimmer so you keep getting swept downstream so that strong solar wind prevents plasma from among the stars from coming into our heliosphere.

Rick McLastname: What effects do Gamma Ray Bursts and Galactic Cosmic Rays have on our satellites?

Mr. Manuel: Those are events which are very strong and devastating to instruments in the way of the Earth and particles, but they don’t have an effect on the magnetosphere itself, because there’s so insignificant. A pea shooter is not going to do much damage against an elephant, the Earth being the elephant and the GRB being the pea shooter, However the GRB/GCR, are potentially devastating if you are outside the magnetic protection of the Earth.

One of the concerns of the SW people is how to protect people on their way to Mars, because they are out of the way of the magnetic field and one of these cosmic rays, a very energetic x-ray flare would be very dangerous to the health of astronauts. These rays are more dangerous the further you get away from the protection of the Earth.

Rick McLastname: What is the relationship between solar activity and terrestrial weather systems?

Mr. Manuel: That’s right at the edge of some of the new current research in interactions between the sun and the Earth but the jury is out. People are working really really hard to demonstrate a connection between solar activity like CMEs and weather on Earth but so far they haven’t convinced the scientific body of opinion that there is a connection. For instance I go to conferences where people will advance their ideas and they are accepted and peer reviewed (as part of the) normal scientific process.

But some people haven’t found the arguments as compelling as they need to be to be accepted as scientific theory.

So scientists who are able to demonstrate this in a significant way, it is significantly going to increase their scientific reputation.

Rick McLastname: Are we in a solar minimum?

Mr. Manuel: The consensus seems to be that we are in a minimum and we are coming out of it. We’re in a minimum because we can’t go any lower.

Rick McLastname: How protected are our satellites from energy bursts?

Mr. Manuel: For satellites, again – the people who develop the satellites understand better and better the environment and how to protect the satellites from the impact of the (space) environment. For instance in Canada there’s the ANIK E1 and E2 satellites which in 1994 they had the bad fortune to experience some really severe space weather, and then ANIK-E1 came back from that space weather in about six hours. They were able to correct the problem, but ANIK-E2 took six months before it was fully operational again. So that’s an example of what happened and the manufacturers have tried very hard to correct the problem so that we learn from our mistakes

Rick McLastname: What are the effects of solar-induced ground currents on our infrastructure technologies?

Mr. Manuel: Ground induced currents the impacts are pretty well described at the NRCan website, but the main impact is on power systems. Are you aware 1989 Quebec blackout? That’s the example that all of the people involved in space weather like to think about and prepare for. That’s a major event. There is also a problem with corrosion in oil pipes, any long metal conductor in long arctic regions has a risk of picking up the same current that is picked up by the hydro system but what they do is the gradually corrode the pipelines but the pipeline manufacturers know about this and they try correct the effects.

Everything that happens in space weather is known and people are trying to make systems which are less vulnerable, so people are learning about the science and technology used to address some of these problems, new power systems, into new satellites and generally the more time we spend in space and have experience we have with this – the more we are able to accommodate the environment of space.

Rick McLastname: Since we are presently in a solar minimum, does this mean we are due for another Carrington event similar to what happened back in 1859? For example, setting telegraph wires on fire and such? Is this a serious concern?

Mr. Manuel: I think so! And in fact there’s a panel of experts in the US who think the same, and they came out with a very interesting report called severe space weather events. They discuss it in their paper and address the impact of exactly what you’re talking about. What would happen today if we had a Carrington event and what would be the impact on our technological systems? And the bottom line is that it would be a very severe impact.

Rick McLastname: Can you tell me more about the magnetometers used for detection of magnetic field deviation?

Mr. Manuel: NRCan, they have magnetometers which are scatted all over Canada and what you see there is what they’re picking up is ionospheric currents, which are created by space weather, mostly the aurora.

Rick McLastname: What was it like for you folks to have two Canadians in space simultaneously?

Mr. Manuel: That was, speaking of the Canadians I thought that was very cool, yup that was about it I suppose. I was probably as glad and prepared to see that as you were.

Rick McLastname: What is the CSA working on right now?

Mr. Manuel: Most of that is already on the website, we have a communications group that does a good job, there are a lot of other things but a lot of those things are related to competitions where we can’t release information because it would give information to competitors and (impact) the funding of science and (the funding of) technology.

Everything that we’re doing is in line with the mandate.

Rick McLastname: Are you folks getting enough money…?

Mr. Manuel: *laughs* I think that it’s about time that we wrap up this call…:roll:

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Filed under: 2012 • Global Catastrophe • Predictions • Solar Maximum 2012

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