Mission Space

⚡️ With technology driving our lives (literally), are we prepared for the threats that come from space? Discover how real-time data on space weather can protect our lives from global power outages and GPS failures in the new interview of Mission Space founders, Alex Pospekhov and Alexey Shirobokov #startups #spaceweather #spaceindustry #luxembourg #spacetech #space

Do you remember the Icelandic volcano eruption of 2010? Millions were forced to make alternative travel plans as air traffic restrictions came into force. Now just imagine if all flights around the world were cancelled at the same time. And, for added drama, unlike the Eyjafjallajökul eruption, you couldn’t phone home or find information on the internet about what was going on. In fact, you might be sitting in darkness, because the electricity has gone down. It’s not as outlandish as you may think. The space physics community agrees that the next once-in-100-year solar storm might be coming soon. #spaceweather #solarflares #geomagneticstorm #carringtonevent #BBC

According to Mike Bettwy, a meteorologist and the operations chief for NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, a lack of data can make solar storm forecasting difficult. #spaceweather #forecast #solarflares #geomagneticstorms

All this unplanned movement created a significant safety risk. The orbits of all low Earth objects are constantly monitored to predict potential collisions — or conjunctions, as astronomers call them — so that satellites can move out of the way. But throughout the storm and for several days afterwards, these calculations were next to impossible because of the rapidly changing orbits. “These challenges call into question the capabilities of the existing conjunction assessment procedures during geomagnetic storm conditions,” they say. That will be a concern to space operators and particularly the astronauts aboard the International Space Station. This has had to move on various occasions to avoid potential collisions and so relies on these kinds of predictions. #spaceweather #solarstorms #geomagneticstorms #solarflares #SSA #STM

How does all this impact the average enlisted Joe or Jane? The Air Land Sea Application Center laid out a scenario where an artillery battalion is trying to conduct a training exercise in Cambodia. Like most of the military, the battalion is fully plugged in, with satellite communications on a super-high frequency band to keep in touch with higher command; a counter-fire radar system for finding enemy artillery; an ultrahigh frequency radio for talking with forward observers calling in fire missions; an advanced field artillery tactical data system for planning and coordinating those fire missions, and other gizmos for providing effective fire support. But it’s all a pile of junk if a big solar flare comes through. “All of a sudden, the UHF radio transmission becomes broken and unreadable, the AFATDS data that does get through has Global Positioning System positions hundreds of meters off from previous calls for fire and the [counter-fire radar] is not picking up any artillery rounds—even though you know the guns are firing,” the Air Land Sea Application Center wrote. “The discrepancies are due to a solar storm.” #spaceweather #defence #solarflares

While the midnight sky is no longer bathed in eerie Aurora Borealis light, the farm financial impact of this spring’s solar storm still is being calculated. According to a Kansas State University economist, it came during 2024’s most crucial planting timeframe, costing American farmers an estimated $500 million in potential profit. #spaceweather #agriculture #usa

We see a need for improved space weather predictions to safeguard spacecraft and mitigate risks in space and on Earth. And an independent European space weather ecosystem will reduce the risk of unforeseen problems related to dependence on data from other countries. Many thanks Kosmonauta for featuring this article! #spaceweather #spacetech #space #innovation

With the forecast framework developed at CLEAR, we also hope to predict when the particle flux falls back to a safe level. That way, we’ll be able to tell the astronauts when it’s safe to leave their shelter and continue their work on the lunar surface. #spaceweather #solarflares

If there were astronauts standing next to the rover at the time of impact from the solar flare, they would have gotten a radiation dose of 8,100 micrograys which is equivalent to about 30 chest X-rays, NASA said. While the radiation was not deadly, it was the biggest surge the rover’s radiation detector measured since it landed on the planet 12 years ago.  The particles seen in both images shared by NASA on Monday look like "snow" as they hit the rover’s navigation camera. Meanwhile, NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter was blasted with energy from the solar particles and had its power temporarily knocked out. It was up and running like normal less than an hour later. #spaceweather

🇱🇺👏We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Carl Shneider, PhD joined our R&D Project with the University of Luxembourg. Dr. Shneider has expertise in Space Weather and Deep Learning and works on improving the forecast accuracy of geomagnetic events. Dr. Shneider contributes to the long-term vision of building a space weather research excellence centre in Luxembourg. Welcome aboard! #spaceweather #missionspace #luxembourg #universityofluxembourg #solarflares