/sci/ - Science & Math

In wake of eclipse, NOAA prepares for enhanced solar observations; NASA considering budget cuts for Hubble and Chandra space telescopes
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https://spacenews.com/in-wake-of-eclipse-noaa-prepares-for-enhanced-solar-observations/
> SAN FRANCISCO – As the annular solar eclipse drew widespread public attention, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration leaders gathered at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta were considering their own solar observations.
> Solar activity affects satellites and terrestrial infrastructure like the power grid.
> “We’re evolving technology at an extraordinary pace,” Murtagh said. “When we introduce new systems, new technologies, new processes, we often introduce new vulnerabilities to space weather that we don’t fully understand until unfortunate things happen” like the loss of 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites in February 2022 after “a relatively minor geomagnetic storm.”
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https://spacenews.com/nasa-considering-budget-cuts-for-hubble-and-chandra-space-telescopes/
> WASHINGTON — NASA is considering cutting the budget of two of its biggest space telescopes as it faces broader spending reductions for its astrophysics programs.
> In an Oct. 13 presentation to the National Academies’ Committee on Astronomy and Astrophysics, Mark Clampin, director of NASA’s astrophysics division, said he was studying unspecified cuts in the operating budgets of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope to preserve funding for other priorities in the division.
> “We’re working with the expectation that FY24 budgets stay at the ’23 levels,” he said. “That means that we have decided to reduce the budget for missions in extended operations, and that is Chandra and Hubble.”