Analysis of a 2021 solar storm showed that the Sun’s particles hit Earth, the moon and Mars in seemingly simultaneous fashion, raising concerns by NASA in a March press release.
The eruption of a solar storm in April 2021 was the first time NASA scientists ever observed solar energetic particles (SEPs) “were observed by a spacecraft at five different, well-separated locations” NASA wrote in the press release.
“SEPs can harm our technology, such as satellites, and disrupt GPS,” Finnish university professor Nina Dresing said in the statement. “Also, humans in space or even on airplanes on polar routes can suffer harmful radiation during strong SEP events.”
Solar Storm Threats Set To Get Worse In 2024, According To Authorities https://t.co/FZIeVffRtJ
— Brent Woodfield (@BrentWoodfield) January 5, 2024
Understanding how these processes occur is essential if we really want to lean into long-term space travel, NASA noted. Crews on lengthy missions to other worlds would have to deal with high levels of sudden radiation as they whizz through space, Live Science noted.
In fact, it’s still not quite clear how we get through the Van Allen Radiation Belt around Earth to get to the moon, but everyone says we somehow did it during the 1969 lunar mission. (RELATED: Three Major Solar Storms And Cell Phone Outages, Are The Two Related?)
This is not the last time an event like this will erupt from our sun. And there’s a significant risk that a major ejection of solar material could knock out every single thing orbiting our planet — sending all satellites down to Earth and wreaking havoc on electrical systems on the ground.