'TIMED: Exploring Earth's Atmosphere' Lecture

On Dec. 13, 2012, APL's Elsayed Talaat, deputy project manager for NASA's TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) spacecraft, gave a lecture at Howard County's Robinson Nature Center called "TIMED: Exploring Earth's Atmosphere." The lecture delved into what scientists are learning from space about the effects of both human and solar activity on Earth's environment. The TIMED spacecraft, now in its second decade in orbit around Earth, has collected more data on the upper atmosphere than any other spacecraft. TIMED was built and is operated by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), in Laurel, Md.

The talk focused on how the mission is studying the influences of the Sun and humans on the least explored and understood region of Earth's atmosphere - the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere/Ionosphere (MLTI). The MLTI region is a gateway between Earth's environment and space, where the Sun's energy is first deposited into Earth's environment. He discussed how this atmospheric region responds to changes caused by the sun, magnetosphere, and lower atmosphere weather; as well as possible human-induced changes. The science that TIMED is investigating has everyday consequences as variability in this region affects satellites, GPS technology and HF radio wave communication.