NASA Telecon briefing on results from STEREO Thursday 1st March at 4 pm GMT (11.00 am EST)

For the first time, scientists are now able to track solar storms from the sun to Earth using the latest images from NASA's twin STEREO spacecraft.

UK scientists from CCLRC’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and the University of Birmingham are involved in the mission.

The new view from the STEREO spacecraft greatly improves scientist's ability to forecast the arrival time of severe space weather. Previous imagery did not show the front of a solar disturbance as it travelled toward Earth, so scientists had to make estimates of when the storm would arrive.

During the media telecon, new panoramic images from Sun to Earth will be unveiled including a coronal mass ejection (CME) moving though wide-angle view. In addition updates on the spacecraft will be given.

Briefing participants:

— Madhulika Guhathakurta, STEREO program scientist, NASA headquarters, Washington

— Michael Kaiser, STEREO project scientist, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

— Russ Howard, SECCHI Principal Investigator, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington –Ron Dennison, STEREO project manager, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

The nearly identical twin observatories will provide 3-D views of the sun and solar wind, perspectives critical to improving understanding of space weather, its impact on astronauts and Earth systems. The satellites launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, on October 25th, for a two-year mission.

Reporters should call: 888-791-1856 and use the pass code “STEREO” to participate in the teleconference. International media callers should call: 1-210-234-0006. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio