§60603 Sustaining and Advancing Critical Space Weather Observations

Summary

Require federal agencies to keep a basic set of space weather observations running, share the data with the public, and seek better measurements when practical to improve forecasts. NASA must keep the SOHO/LASCO satellite operating with European and other partners for as long as it gives good data and must make getting its data a priority. NOAA must keep current space-weather satellites running as long as practicable, including GOES and DSCOVR. NOAA, working with the Department of Defense, NASA, and partners, must get reliable backup capability for near–real-time sun and solar wind imagery and other needed observations. NOAA must also make a plan to keep forecasts going if SOHO/LASCO suddenly fails before backups are in place. Within 120 days after the PROSWIFT Act becomes law, NOAA must brief key Congressional committees on the backup plan and the contingency plan. NSF, USGS, the Air Force, and, as useful, the Navy must maintain and improve ground-based solar observations and keep providing data from radars, magnetometers, imagers, spectrometers, and similar instruments. Agencies must favor cost-effective, reliable approaches. NSF must make key ground data public, create experimental scientific models, and help move useful models into operations. NOAA and the Defense Department should also explore extra space-based options beyond the baseline, such as commercial systems, university partnerships, microsatellites, prize challenges, ground instruments, or rideshare payloads. Definitions: SOHO/LASCO — a satellite instrument that images the Sun’s outer atmosphere (corona).