Key infrastructure such as power grids on Earth can fail and esker storms can even creating a potentially deadly radiation hazard for astronauts in space.
However, while these events cannot be stopped, advance warning of oncoming solar storm will give operators of satellites, power grids and telecommunication systems time to take protective measures.
ESA is now planning a unique mission that will do just this.
The space agency’s Lagrange mission will make much-needed observations of the Sun, providing the necessary information for such advance warnings.
ESA Lagrange mission:
The Lagrange point is a position in space where the gravitational forces of the Sun and Earth balance out.
The satellite will at this point monitor potentially hazardous sunspots and high-speed solar wind streams before they strike Earth.
Lagrange will detect solar events and their propagation toward the Earth with higher accuracy than is possible today, transmitting data to Earth and distributing it into ESA’s Space Weather Service Network in near real-time, to generate warnings and forecasts.
As much of modern human society becomes ever more reliant on space-based services, vulnerable to the Sun’s outbursts, protective measures against space weather are becoming ever-more important.
