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this week on c-span, c-span now, or online atg. >> nasa administrator bill nelson spoke about the upcoming total solar eclipse expected to beadministrator nelson also tald about the potential scientific benefits of the clips and safety practices for those watching it. this is 25 minutes. >> when you experience a eclipse

you feel the connection with space. >> woah, look at universe is ep om o here it comes. that is the most spectacular sight. >> >> if you have not seen■■■r [app] >> hello everyone, i am faith mackey and thank you for joining us as we look forward to the upcoming total solar eclipse on april 8. during the press conference you expect during the eclipse, how

to participate, how nasa and government agencies will usece d how to view it safely. today's participants include nasa administrator bill nelson, the deputy administrator pam melroy. the associate administrator, jim. the director of office of space weather operations and the program manager kelly. after remarks from each participant we will glly tak■eno administrator nelson to kick us off. bill: good morning. before we get started, we were supposed to have the federal highway administratoryou have pe emergency that is happening in our thoughts are certainly with

them, our prayers are with the people in the family's in-famil. i have often said that nasa our mission is for allumanity and that is because space brings us together. there is no better proof they had it is millions of people across north america will look to the heavens as the moon passes in front and between the sun and the earth and it is a rare that we have not seen in seven years. and, unusual things start to happen as the normal rhythms of earth are disrupted.

when you are seeing this eclipse, you ought to observeaso , people have heard birds stop singing. they have seen giraffes suddenly begin to gallop, roosters start crowing and crickets chirp. so,se unusual behaviors. and we encourage you to help nasa observe the sights and eclipses have a special power. they move people to a kind of reverence for the beauty of our universe. their power is not only to unify us on earth, but to further

science and discovery. 1919, albert einstein's theory of gravitational bendingn the sun is blocked out by the moon. today, over a century later a total solar eclipse still great opportunity and science. pam will share a little bit more about how nasa missions will use this rare moment to advance science. safety is always nasa'si÷ number one priority and that remains true for this solar eclipse. make sure that you havlike the .

heavens on april 8 when the eclipse starts, please, please, put those glasses on. now, i am going to hand it over to pam. pam: thank you, sir. this is such an on inspiring moment. that this is a very rare thing, but it just so happens the moon is the right size and distance to cause this effect on earth. and i hope that the awe thate ts completely understood by everybody who gets to experience our universe. of course we are super excited.

we are incredibly excited and ■he solar eclipseg up to this and the incredible scientific opportunities, which is my joy to talk to you about. at nasa we explore the unknown at air and space and we are looking at pushing that cutting edge of science. we really want to and our place in it. the thing that is unique about a solar■ it is an opportunity to look at three celestial bodies, the earth, the moon, and the sun in entirely do and scientists will take full advantage of this celestial event to get invaluable data. one focal point is definitely the atmosphere or the corona. so, this is a very elusive region andt viewed during a solar eclipse in a very

special way. it is key■y to understanding fundamental questions about how heat and energy are transferred out into the solar wind, which treat -- which contributes to our dynamics but also how solar flare and the solar wind will affect life on earth. with the corona that we do not fully understand and the eclipse gives us a unique opportunity to collect data that might give into the future of our star and it just so happens that we are at solar maximum, so the chance t we will see something amazing is high. we are also leveraging this opportunity to look at the effect of the sun on the earth'e ionosphere, the electric sleep -- the electrically charged part of our atmosphere that can act as a conduit for communications and navigation signals.

understanding how solar energy affects it is crucial for predicting and attentional disruptions to our technology. by observing the temporary decrease in sunlightox■ quicker timescale than we experience for sunrise and sunset we are going to gain insight specifically into how sunlight affects the ionosphere. as i mentioned, there are three bodies involved to make this thanks to highly precise mapping of the moon from the lunar reconnaissance orbiter we cannot -- we can moon's sile against the sun lets us learn moreut t■- itself allowing us to investigate regions like the chroma sphere. we are also going to make use of the terrain to study the sun's shape and size and our detailed

knowledge of the moon also allowed scientists to predict the shape of the shadow on earth better than ever before. so, in essence we ar thrilled about the opportunity to conduct amazing and valuable science during the eclipse and we want everyone to j in this exciting opportunity. thank you. thank you and good morning. we are a few days away from witnessing a cosmicere noaa satellites will provide a front row seat to celeste teal wonder. the -- a celeste teal wonder. we will capture the moon's disk as it passes in front of the sun and the advanced imagers on this satellite will track the shadow as it moves across the path of

totality. the video here shows the moon's shadow from the annular eclipse in october. noaa and its partners at the northe studies also provided this interactive map which shows the climb a percentage of clear sky during the eclipse at all of these differentplan their viewig experience. once the eclipse is over, noaa and nasa will pr the upcoming launch of a satellites scheduled for june 25. it will carry the first operational chronograph, a solar that logs the disk of the sun. with this instrument we will see the fainter outer space -- the faint outer area of the sun. a smaller chronograph will be on different observatory scheduled to launch next year in 2025.

this from earth and positioned toward the sun where it will act as an upstream buoy capturing data from incoming space weather enth of them willn unprecedented view of the sun, but what you might not know that is in a tota corona in a way that not even corona grabs -- chronographs cannot capture. k forward to getting this unique look on the types of measurements we need on a continuous basis for space-weather forecasts and warnings. thank you. thank you and good morning. my name is kelly and i amclipser excited to discuss the ways that nasa is using the solar eclipse for scientific discovery.

in addition to the over 20 sallit physics observatory that regularly observes the sun we will be using rockets, planes, ba grouns to observe the eclipse. the sun and its effects on the earth called space weather is one of the motivating factors in our study. although the focus will be on the coronaatmosphere as the moos the brightness of the sun, the eclipse gives us the unique opportunity to research our first reactiostarting with the t experiment, a series of three rockets launched facility to exe layers of atmosphere called the ionosphere. again that layer is important is communications pass-through. disturbances can cause issue with gps and communications.

they will sample the layer of the atmosphere to see how it changes with the sunday like -- sudden day like change. and that can help us better e wb57 plane with two solar will chase the eclipse getting a two additional minutes of totality and a deeper understanding of the sun and earth atmosphere. zens of student teams will launch balloons along the path before, during and after the eclipse to get measurements of the atmosphere. in addition, a nasa team will use the balloon to study the weather of the eclipse. citizen science isay for everyone to join the nasa spot -- science exploration during the eclipse. i am highlighting three of the 40 projeth participate in. the first is sun sketcher and utilizes a smartphone to size oe

sun. the second is focused on the atmosphere called globe observers. observes things like temperature to understand the effect of the eclipse on atmosphere and clouds. the third project is the soundscape where you ask form eclipse and the sounds you experienced during it. these are a few of the ways to engage with the eclipse and nasa science. it is not just a stunning visual experience and i hope that you will join us in these discoveries. thank you. faith: now we will hear from associate administrator about how nasa is bringing the excitement of the solar eclipse to you with a few safety reminders. jim: thank you. i know about you, but i remember where i was during the last total solar eclipse and i'm

excited about this one understa. nikki fox will hold me accountable. i think the wrong remark is up. thank you so much for joining us today. i appreciate the opportunity to share with you some of these things to be safe about and i turn the administrator and my condolences to everyone affected.ng the eclipse we wanto make sure that we are not relying on our want to make sure looking out for the pedestrians. please do not just stop on the side of the road. please don't just stop on the side of the road. it's really important to make sure we stay focused on everyone around us. people will be stopping. so be careful. i want to make sure also we highlight the importance of the science that everyone can be inspired by by the eclipse.

it's important to look at all of the sciee do blat na. when we look to the heavens, we are inspired, and everyoneilok s eir glasses on. when we think about the power of the sun, what we do with other celestrial bods, where we're ocki i want to mention it safety of what we are doing. the safety of what you need to classes. the safety of what you do when driving. also what you need to remember n take from this eclipse. let me turn it over to faith. >> thank you all so much. we have a few media with us in the room and also the phone

lines. i do ask that you please focus your question to the solar eclipse and identify to whom yourzt before we kick it over to the phone lines. room for you.e mics in the >> ki, -- kana bial( - hi, karih supreme spectrum news.w has na'y changed since the last solar eclipse? >> well, i'll give you one very good example. in 2018, we launched the parker solar probe. in addition to everything that we are going to learn from this experience in a week and half

when the moon moves in front of the sun, shortly thereafter, the go in and touch the sun. interestingly, it won't touch the surface of the sun. although it is hard to determine what is the surface since the it is going to touch the hottest part, which is outside of the sun. sometimes at 1 million degrees. and hopefully, it will be positioned exactly right withhit shield is going to keep it at a relatively warm 87 degrees in its temperature while it is absolutely cooking on the outside of that heat shield.

and we are going to measure all kinds of new things that we have never known before, because of the parker solar probe. so the technology has rapidly advanced and we are going to be the beneficiaries of that. >> thank you for your question. i think we will kick over to one we have brett tingly from space.com. >> hi, thank you very much for taking my question. this is for anyone at nasa. i'm wondering, will there be any plans for the crew onboard the space station to watch the eclipse or anything pl■xne them on eclipse day, thank you. >> yes, they will be able to see the eclipse, but with a very unique vantage point. instead of looking up at the moon casting the shadow, they will be able to see the

shadowac so there is involvement and the will be -- they will■q■( be ablo participate in that way. >> great. thank you. >> next question, we have jim siegel from nasa tech.question. this is an exciting event,i thir pam or shelley. tell us how nasa predicts the path of the eclipse ahead of time? in this case across north america. how is that done, exactly? >> this is a great question. wee our scientists that work on this to predict these paths. have been known for a while

and they come in cycles that are mathematically able to tell when we'll pass the moon between the earth and sun just right so you get the shadow cast. and based on that orientation of the sun, moon, and earth and taking into account the tilts of predictions. and then nasa uses the lro, the lunar reconnaissance orbiter, and the data that was studied there to make that map even more precise beexact peaks and vallee moon and we are tell you -- we are able to tell you how far th. now we have alan boyle on the phone from ekwire. -- from geekwire. >> this question would webcast .

can you provide any more details on what views it will be coming from, any other activities, live activities? is there a base of operations for what nasa is doing in the path of the eclipse? thank you. thank you. yes, there will be a live nasa broadcast from 1:00 to 4:00 on eclipse day on nasa plus and several other outlets. we'll have telescope feeds andsr science nasa does with the sun we'll be located in 13 different sunspots. a sunspot on the sun is a place of intense magnetic activity. we are going to have some activity along eclipses and the sunspots along the path. those 13 spots are spread out to also give us a different view so

we have folks such as the dallas arboretum, hot springs arkansas. the noaa national science foundation. national parks like hot springs arkansas. we'll be in russellville, cleveland. where nasa glenn will be. that will be a shot spot and anchor of the broadcast. us will be attending at ain festival outside as well. >> thank you. have on the phone. one last check for questions in the room. all right, that's all the time that wve thank you so much for joining us. to learn more about the eclipse, please visit

go.nasa..gov/eclipse2024. no matter where you are on april 8th, whether it's a sun spot our or online, we hope you join in on the fun and don't forget to wear your glasses. have a great day. c-span has been delivered unfiltered congressional coverage for 45 years. here is a highlight from a key moment. >> the space program has been a marvelous program for to

expand its knowledge, its horizons. it will continue to be so in the future. as lon man has the thirst for knowledge we will continue to press outward. in the pross risk. at is taken by each one of us. that risk is understood by all of the members of a crew that climb into a loaded spaceship. >> c-span, powered by cable. >> following the collapse of the francis scott key bridge in community. the i 35 west ridge in minnesota which collapsed in 2007 was

illuminated in the colors of the maryland flag tuesday night. governor wes moore called for a full and thorough invin place f. >> today at noon a discussion on the israel-hamasg war after nearly six months of fighting and the prospect of a cease fire. hosted by the stimson center, watch live at noon on now, or ot c-span.org. >> this evening on q&a, patty davis discusses her book "dear mom and dad" a boowr as a memoir to her late parents ron and nancy reagan. watch q&a this week or online at c-span.org. we are joined to ta about aviation