A solar mass ejection and some unhappy lawmakers may help reverse a proposal to kill a federal program that monitors space weather.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Space Environment Center keeps an eye on the sun's tantrums, which can disrupt communications and power grids. But in September, a Senate spending panel voted to eliminate the Boulder, Colorado, office and its $5.2 million budget for 2004, saying that it wasn't part of NOAA's mission and that other, larger agencies could pick up the tab if they felt the program was essential.
The decision didn't sit well with Senator John McCain (R-AZ), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee that oversees NOAA's programs, who has called on the White House to fight the cut. And last week the center's director and other witnesses defended the program during a fortuitously timed House hearing on federal efforts to forecast space weather.
The $38 billion budget bill remains in limbo over other issues. But last week's solar storm reminded politicians not to take the sun's moods for granted.
