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Bridging Science, Policy and Strategy for Climate Action – State of the Planet

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Science

Bridging Science, Policy and Strategy for Climate Action – State of the Planet

Tiffany Wu, a 2023 graduate of Columbia University’s MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program, is a senior program associate at Winrock International, which provides solutions to complex social and agricultural challenges worldwide. Wu works on climate and sustainability projects spanning carbon markets, corporate greenhouse gas accounting and clean energy. Courtesy of Tiffany Wu Drawing on her diverse experiences in field research, as well as her background in corporate and nonprofit roles, Wu bridges science, policy and strategy to help organizations take meaningful climate action. In the Q&A below, Wu speaks about her career path, the lessons she learned at Columbia and her advice for students entering the field. Can you tell us about your current work? I’m a seni...

NASA probes to study how the solar wind triggers potentially dangerous ‘space weather’ – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

NASA probes to study how the solar wind triggers potentially dangerous ‘space weather’ – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission launches at 11:13 a.m. PDT (2:13 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The TRACERS mission will study magnetic reconnection around Earth — a process in which electrically charged plasmas exchange energy in the atmosphere — to understand how the Sun’s solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere, Earth’s protective magnetic shield. Image: SpaceX SpaceX launched twin satellites for NASA Wednesday that will study how the electrically-charged solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, creating constantly changing and occasionally dangerous “space weather” affecting satellites, electrical...

NASA Launches Mission to Study Earth’s Magnetic Shield

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NASA

NASA Launches Mission to Study Earth’s Magnetic Shield

NASA’s newest mission, TRACERS, soon will begin studying how Earth’s magnetic shield protects our planet from the effects of space weather. Short for Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, the twin TRACERS spacecraft lifted off at 11:13 a.m. PDT (2:13 p.m. EDT) Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. “NASA is proud to launch TRACERS to demonstrate and expand American preeminence in space science research and technology,” said acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy. “The TRACERS satellites will move us forward in decoding space weather and further our understanding of the connection between Earth and the Sun. This mission will yield breakthroughs that will advance our pursuit of ...

‘Regional power outage’ causes last-minute scrub of NASA’s TRACERS mission – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

‘Regional power outage’ causes last-minute scrub of NASA’s TRACERS mission – Spaceflight Now

NASA’s two TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) are encapsulated along with five other satellites ahead of launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Image: NASA Update July 22, 6 p.m. EDT: Added comment from the FAA. NASA’s next trip to space will be a rideshare mission with nine other satellites sharing a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. However, it has to wait at least another day after a last minute scrub of the mission. About 45 seconds before the planned liftoff, the SpaceX launch director called, “Hold, hold, hold” and declared that the mission was aborted due to “air space concerns.” Following the scrub, SpaceX took to social media to reiterate that it wasn’t able to proceed into launch “due to [Federal Aviation Administr...

SpaceX scrubs O3b mPOWER satellites launch, targets backup window on Tuesday – Spaceflight Now

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SpaceX

SpaceX scrubs O3b mPOWER satellites launch, targets backup window on Tuesday – Spaceflight Now

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station ahead of the planned launch of SES’ ninth and tenth O3b mPOWER satellites. Image: SpaceX Update July 21, 5:52 p.m. EDT: SpaceX scrubbed the launch, targeting Tuesday, July 22. SpaceX is targeting Tuesday, July 22, for the launch of two satellites to medium Earth orbit, following a last minute scrub on Monday. Just about 11 seconds before liftoff was set to occur, the SpaceX launch director called “Hold, hold, hold!”, ending the launch attempt for the day. A reason for the scrub was not given by SpaceX either during its broadcast or subsequently when they posted on X that they would try to launch again on Tuesday. “Standing down from today’s launch of the @SES_Satellites O3b mPOWER mission and n...