Illustration of NASA's Glory Satellite

What is Glory going to do?

Glory’s mission is to study two things. One thing it will study is the energy output (also known as irradiance) of the Sun and how it changes over time. Our Sun, or any star for that matter, is not unchanging. Stars are very DYNAMIC with lots of activity on their surfaces. Things like sunspots, solar flares and the age of the star will change the energy that is emitted from it. This is very important for us, because our Sun is the ULTIMATE source of energy for all life on Earth.

The second thing Glory will do is collect data on how the particles (also known as aerosols) like soot, volcanic ash, etc. and clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere affect the amount of light that “falls” on it from the Sun. As you probably know, the temperature of the Earth is INCREASING. This is due to the amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere that would normally get emitted into space causing Earth’s temperature to go up. Some of it is produced naturally, for example, when dead planet and animals decompose, they give off carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas. Other greenhouse gas emissions come from activities of humans. For example, cars produce greenhouse gas emissions when they burn fuel.

The amount of energy our Sun puts out combined with how much of that energy is reflected back into space without ever reaching the surface of the Earth is a huge FACTOR in how the temperature of the Earth will increase over the coming years. We are already starting to see the effects of the increase in Earth’s temperature, also known as global warming, in places like the Arctic where the home of the polar bears, ice, is melting away. Other, more subtle, changes include migration of plants and animals from places where they used to grow and live to new locations because their previous homes got too hot for them to survive.

Glory will help us understand how fast the Earth’s temperature is changing and, indirectly, how much time we have to find alternative sources of energy to replace those that cause global warming before even human existence becomes questionable.

Resources

• Submit your name for inclusion on the Glory Satellite.
• Glory mission’s kid’s page.
• About our Sun.
• Learn about global warming from NASA.
• Climate Change Education.
• YOU can make a difference in global warming.

Traveling into space. Credit: NASA

What the news media is not reporting as widely is the fact that NASA has been issued a new directive by President Obama to work more closely with the private sector, companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and others to take astronauts into space. This means there will be MORE spots for astronauts on spaceships than exist today.

If you DREAM of someday going into space, do not give up that dream. Your chances of becoming an astronaut just went up. Of course, you will still need a good education to secure your place on a spaceship.