Davos researchers provide technical information for Japanese mission: How do you predict the weather in space, Ms. Harra?

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Davos is famous for its healing mountain air, ski slopes popular with the British royal family, and the annual WEF for international business elites. Less known, but no less exciting, is that a device is currently being built in Europe’s highest city and will be sent into space by the Japanese Solar-C space mission. PMOD director and ETH professor Louise Harra (54) said in her meeting with Blick that the Davos Physical-Meteorological Observatory (PMOD) has developed one of the two central instruments of the mission, and thanks to these instruments it may soon be possible to predict disruptions on Earth. .

The device aims to help better understand solar flares. These are massive explosions in the solar atmosphere in which electromagnetic energy and high-energy particles are released into space. These can then cause outages to satellites, the telecommunications network and the high voltage network. Aircraft navigation is also affected. Recently, such an incident destroyed 40 Starlink satellites belonging to Elon Musk’s (52) SpaceX.

Not enough measurements have been made so far

Davos researchers are now obtaining data to better understand solar winds, solar flares and their effects on Earth. “We want to measure solar radiation in a way that has never been done before,” explains Harra.

Weather forecasting in space right now is about as good as meteorology was 50 years ago. “So far we have only taken snapshots of different layers of the sun’s atmosphere, but we do not yet have a consistent image from the surface of the sun to the corona, the outermost layer of the atmosphere,” explains Harra. “Not enough measurements.”

This should change with the space project with the participation of Switzerland. “If we can better predict solar flares, we won’t protect satellites, but we will warn airlines, telecommunications companies and energy suppliers,” says solar physicist Harra. In such a case, satellites can be shut down for a short time to prevent major damage.

biggest challenges

During Blick’s visit to the pink observatory, Harra and his team unveil the measuring device, which is expected to reach space from Japan in 2028. This is called Solar Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SoSpIM). The idea for the instrument came from Irin Harra, who was currently aboard the Japanese space mission Hinode. PMOD has also been involved in many other space projects. Ten employees are currently working on the project and are in regular contact with partners in the US, Japan, Spain and Italy. It is not easy to set the date because there are different time zones. The Swiss team usually attends meetings in the evenings. “In global Zoom meetings in different time zones, someone always suffers,” Harra says and laughs.

The research team faces some challenges. “Cleaning the device is one of the biggest challenges,” says PMOD project manager Valeria Büchel (37). The rest of the team agrees with his nod. Extreme care is required when transporting and testing the SoSpIM to prevent the device from suddenly becoming blind in space.

Prototype created

The team also needs to proceed carefully in the research labs. About a dozen circuit boards are neatly lined up. Electrical engineer Leandro Meier (37) proudly shows the finished electronic prototype. Next to him stands a 3D model of the shoebox-sized instrument. The final device is made of aluminum and a polymechanic is currently producing the first parts in the workshop. SoSpIM was largely built at PMOD in Davos.

Weight plays a big role in this task. «Our instrument should not weigh more than 3.2 kilograms. “The final weight of the satellite will be around 500 kilograms,” says Büchel.

Initial tests are encouraging. «We act in accordance with the program. “I don’t know of any problems right now that could stand in the way of starting in 2028,” says Harra. PMOD does not want to disclose to what extent the Swiss state is supporting the project or how expensive the Swiss contribution is.

Other projects are pending

The PMOD team’s expectation to start in 2028 is already attracting attention. They all came to Davos to put the theoretical astrophysics they learned into practice. “Also for snowboarding,” says project manager Büchel with a laugh. More space projects are already underway.

Source :Blick