Space Weather Research Team (SOLARIS)

• Analyze solar events: Track and evaluate space weather events such as solar flares, sunspots, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and solar wind streams to predict their potential effects on Earth and spacecraft.
• Provide space weather forecasts: Develop early warning and protective measures for astronauts, satellite operators, and ground control centers by making short and long-term space weather predictions based on obtained data.
• Minimize radiation risks: Create monitoring and protection strategies to protect astronaut health and prevent critical spacecraft equipment from radiation damage.
• Support MoEP Analog Mars Research Station Studies: Provide technical input to station design and mission planning by modeling similar effects of solar events and radiation in the analog Mars environment, develop and install monitoring equipment at the station for this purpose.
• Ensure multidisciplinary collaboration: Integrate space weather risks and opportunities into all mission phases by working in coordination with mission planning, space medicine, engineering, and other scientific discipline.

• Solar Physics and Heliophysics: Understanding and modeling fundamental processes shaping space weather by studying the Sun’s magnetic field structure and flares.
• Radiation Effects and Protection Systems: Measuring the effects of increased radiation on astronauts, electronic systems, and spacecraft, and developing preventive protection methods.
• Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Interactions: Studying how Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere respond to space weather events to predict and prevent possible disruptions in communication and navigation system.
• Data Analysis and Prediction Models: Producing high-accuracy space weather forecasts using machine learning and advanced statistical techniques by combining satellite data, observatory measurements, and simulation results.
• Satellite Communication and Navigation: Developing redundant and reliable communication protocols to reduce interruption risks by analyzing the effects of solar flares and ionospheric disturbances on satellite signals.
• Space Missions and Safety Procedures: Determining emergency procedures and risk management strategies by evaluating space weather-related hazards for space stations, interplanetary vehicles, and deep space missions.
• Education and Awareness Studies: Preparing seminars, workshops, and educational materials to raise awareness about space weather science, integrating space weather content into MoEP Analog Astronaut Training programs, and producing mission scenarios.

SOLARIS’s Importance

• Mission Safety and Continuity: Space weather conditions can pose a major threat to both Earth-orbiting satellites and deep space missions. Through real-time monitoring and prediction studies by SOLARIS, damage to spacecraft or communication interruptions due to unexpected solar events can be prevented.
• Protection of Astronaut Health: Solar radiation fluctuations can directly affect astronauts’ physical and mental health during long-term space missions. SOLARIS’s radiation monitoring and early warning system can provide astronauts the opportunity to take appropriate protective measures.
• Multidisciplinary Collaboration: In space missions, space weather forecasts must be integrated into many teams’ planning. SOLARIS can contribute to safer and more successful missions by continuously sharing data and information with other engineering and science teams.
• Contribution to Earth: Space weather affects not only space missions but also critical infrastructure on Earth such as power grids, communication networks, and GPS systems. SOLARIS’s data analysis and early warning mechanisms are also important for reducing risks from potential geomagnetic storms and preventing damage to social life.