Most of the 49 satellites that were launched as part of the Starlink internet project burned up in the atmosphere days later. The failure was caused by a storm on the Sun.
When space weather hits and interacts with the Earth, there are magnetic storms. Space weather is caused by the Sun's fluctuations in strength.
Space weather poses a hazard to space-based assets and how scientists can improve the models and prediction of space weather to protect against these dangers is what I study.
Space weather can cause a lot of trouble when it reaches Earth. Engineers like me are working to understand the risks and defend satellites against them.
The Sun releases charged particles into space. The solar wind is a type of wind. The solar magnetic field is carried by the solar wind.
Sometimes, the Sun will produce strong bursts of particles in a specific direction. If Earth is in the path of the enhanced solar wind, you will get a storm.
The two most common causes of storms are solar wind that escapes through holes in the Sun and coronal mass ejections.
The speed at which the ejected solar wind arrives at Earth is an important factor. Normally, the solar wind travels at a rate of about one million mph. Strong solar events can release winds up to five times faster.
The strongest storm on record was in September of 1859. When the mass of particles hit Earth, they caused electrical surges in telegraph lines that shocked operators and, in some extreme cases, actually set telegraph instruments on fire.
A storm of this magnitude would cause $2 trillion in damage, according to research.
Any life form that is unlucky enough to be exposed to the solar wind would be incredibly dangerous. Earth's magnetic field protects us.
The magnetosphere is the first thing solar wind hits. The atmosphere surrounding the Earth is filled with ion and electrons. The planet has a strong magnetic field. Solar wind transfers mass, energy, and momentum into the magnetosphere.
Most of the solar wind energy can be absorbed by the magnetosphere. Excess energy can be transferred to the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere during strong storms. Changing energy to the poles results in fantastic Aurora events, but it also causes changes in the upper atmosphere that can harm space assets.
There are a number of ways that storms can affect satellites.
The atmosphere expands when it absorbs energy from storms. The thermoosphere is the layer of the atmosphere that extends from 50 miles to 600 miles above the surface of the Earth. Satellites can be a problem with higher density.
The demise of the Starlink satellites was due to this situation.
The Starlink satellites are dropped off by Falcon 9 rockets into a low-altitude, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low-cost, low
The satellites use onboard engines to slowly overcome the force of drag and raise themselves to their final altitude.
The Starlink satellites are still in very low-Earth space. Their engines could not overcome the increased drag and the satellites began falling toward Earth.
Space weather poses a number of hazard to space-based assets.
The increase in high-energy electrons within the magnetosphere during strong storms will cause more electrons to penetrate the shielding on a spacecraft and accumulate in its electronics. A small lightning strike can damage electronics because of the build up of electrons.
Penetrating radiation or charged particles in the magnetosphere can affect the output signal from electronic devices. If an error occurs in something critical, the entire satellite can fail.
Small errors are usually fixable, but total failures are rare.
The ability of satellites to communicate with Earth using radio waves can be disrupted by storms. Radio waves are used in many communications technologies. Engineers correct for the distortion of radio waves when building communication systems.
Changes in the ionosphere will affect how radio waves travel through it. During storms, the calibrations for a quiet atmosphere become incorrect.
This makes it difficult to lock onto the signals and can throw off the positioning by a few meters. Many industries, including aviation, maritime, robotics, transportation, farming, military, and others, are not tenable if you make aGPS positioning error of a few meters. Accurate positioning will be required for automated driving systems.
Protection of space assets from space weather is an area of research that is important to the modern world.
Some of the risks can be mitigated by shielding electronics from radiation. In the face of a powerful storm, there is only so much shielding that can be done.
It would be possible to shut down sensitive electronics or shift satellites to be better protected if the ability to accurately forecast storms were made possible.
Over the past few years, the modeling and forecasting of geomagnetic storms has improved, but the projections are often wrong.
A geomagnetic storm was likely to occur the day before or the day of the February Starlink launch, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The mission went ahead as planned.
The Sun is a child that throws a temper tantrum. It is essential for life to go on, but it is also challenging.
Piyush Mehta is an assistant professor at West Virginia University.
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