All articles tagged with #space weather
NASA says the X1.4 solar flare and its CME pose no threat to Artemis 2’s April 1 launch to the Moon; officials expect no CME effects and note a radiation shelter will be used if needed. Artemis 2 will carry four astronauts on a roughly 10-day lunar flyby aboard SLS/Orion, with liftoff at 6:24 p.m. EDT and about 80% favorable weather; the crew arrived at Kennedy Space Center March 27 and is in prelaunch quarantine.
A powerful X1.4 solar flare from sunspot region 4405 caused radio blackouts on Earth’s sunlit side and launched a fast CME, with NOAA warning of a possible Earth-directed component and a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm watch. NASA’s Artemis 2 moon mission is planned no earlier than April 1, but space weather could disrupt launch communications and early maneuvers; if the CME impacts Earth, auroras could appear at unusually low latitudes in the United States.
A Science Advances study using Chang’e-4 data and NASA’s LRO observations finds that Earth’s magnetosphere forms an extended “cavity” that provides extra shielding for the Moon, reducing lunar surface radiation by about 20% during certain orbital phases—specifically in a pre-noon geometry—even when the Moon is outside the magnetosphere. The effect, mainly affecting low-energy ions that contribute to skin dose, was observed across 31 lunar cycles and could inform radiation protection for future missions, such as Artemis.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center warns of a G2 geomagnetic storm on March 19 (UTC) as multiple coronal mass ejections head toward Earth. The activity could push the auroral oval far south, with potential sightings in mid-latitudes including Illinois and New York, depending on CME timing and local conditions. Impacts could begin as early as 11 p.m. ET on March 18, with strongest activity 2–8 a.m. ET on March 19 and possibly lingering into March 20, and a wider window increases the chance for aurora displays given clear skies and favorable magnetic orientation.
NASA and NOAA will monitor solar activity around the clock as Artemis II travels beyond Earth’s protective magnetosphere, tracking solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and solar energetic particles with a network of spacecraft and ground teams to manage radiation exposure inside Orion and guide crew procedures.
Space.com reports that a fast solar wind is expected to sweep past Earth tonight (March 13), potentially triggering a minor geomagnetic storm and making the northern lights visible across nine U.S. states (Alaska, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Idaho, Washington, and Maine) if skies are clear. Best viewing is tonight into Saturday, with auroras possibly reaching farther south if conditions strengthen, per NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center.
Residents across Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas reported a bright fireball around 8 p.m. Thursday; the American Meteor Society says it was likely a meteor, with researchers still reconstructing its path as more sightings come in. NASA noted an update about Van Allen Probe A's re-entry. Viewers are urged to share photos or video with WRAL's Report It page or the AMS Fireball log to help scientists pinpoint the trajectory.
NOAA SWPC forecasts the Northern Lights will be visible tonight across 10 northern U.S. states (including Alaska, Washington, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine) due to solar winds and a coronal mass ejection; best viewing from about 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. under dark skies away from city lights, with additional chances around the March 20 spring equinox.
NASA's Van Allen Probe A is on a planned re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere after a mission to study the planet’s radiation belts. The 1,323-pound satellite, launched in 2012 with Van Allen Probe B, is expected to re-enter around 7:45 p.m. EDT on March 10, 2026 (±24 hours); most of it will burn up, but some debris could survive. The mission, originally two years, ran for about seven years and yielded important insights into radiation belts and space weather forecasting, including evidence of a transient third belt. Van Allen Probe B isn’t expected to re-enter until around 2030. The risk to people on Earth remains very low, about 1 in 4,200, and predictions will be updated as conditions change.
A 1,300-pound NASA satellite (Van Allen Probe A) is on an uncontrolled descent and could reenter Earth's atmosphere around 7:45 p.m. ET today, with the exact debris footprint uncertain and debris expected to mostly burn up; the ground risk is extremely low (about 1 in 4,200). The probe's mission ended in 2019 and, due to higher-than-expected solar activity increasing atmospheric drag, its descent has accelerated.
SETI researchers warn that solar storms and plasma turbulence around stars can broaden and weaken ultra-narrow radio signals from potential alien transmitters, making them harder to detect with traditional searches and prompting researchers to rethink observation strategies, including higher-frequency surveys; the finding explains, in part, why technosignature signals remain elusive while suggesting aliens might still be out there.
Two ESA Mars-orbiting missions, Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, observed a powerful solar superstorm that also struck Earth in May 2024 and hit Mars, flooding the planet’s upper atmosphere with electrons (about 45% at ~110 km and 278% at ~130 km) and causing radiation-induced glitches in the spacecraft. Using a radio occultation technique, scientists mapped the atmospheric response and noted that Mars—lacking a global magnetic field—reacts differently to space weather than Earth; the observations were unusually well-timed after a large solar flare, and the results were published in Nature Communications.
NASA’s ESCAPADE mission launched in 2025 with two orbiters to study how the solar wind and Mars’ magnetosphere interact, revealing real-time atmospheric escape from the Red Planet and providing stereo measurements. The twins will fly in tandem near Mars after looping through a distant Earth magnetotail en route to a Sept. 2027 Mars arrival, also doing discovery science in Earth’s magnetotail. Findings will help protect future astronauts and inform Mars communications and ionospheric understanding as humanity prepares to explore the Red Planet.
A Japanese study models the Earth’s crust and ionosphere as a coupled electric system to explore whether solar flares could subtly influence when a fault reaches rupture. The authors stress they are discussing timing, not energy, and acknowledge the idea is preliminary and contested by experts, with further validation planned.
A NASA/NOAA VIIRS satellite captured grayscale aurora displays over the Denmark Strait toward Iceland and across eastern Canada during a minor G1 geomagnetic storm on Feb. 16, 2026. The article explains auroras form when solar particles are channeled by Earth's magnetic field and collide with atmospheric gases, producing greens at mid-altitudes with possible magentas and reds at higher/lower altitudes; ground observers would have seen shimmering curtains under the right conditions.