Solar flare prompts close monitoring of space weather ahead of Artemis II launch
With NASA preparing for the Artemis II launch (expected tomorrow, 1 April), a strong solar flare earlier this week is putting space weather back into focus - and highlighting the unpredictable risks astronauts could face beyond Earth’s atmosphere.
Professor Keith Ryden, leader of the Space Environment and Protection research team at the Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey, has shared new insights into what this flare means for the mission, and why events like this remain difficult to predict.
His comment also includes historical context from Visiting Professor at Surrey Space Centre, Clive Dyer, who worked on the Apollo programme.
"The Florida weather looks set to be fair for the Artemis II launch, but space weather could still cause some anxious moments; our engineers and scientists at the Surrey Space Centre have been closely monitoring the situation. At 02:47am UTC on Monday, 30 March, the Sun emitted a strong X-class solar flare which lasted an hour. While this flare was not itself a direct hazard to the mission, it reminds us of what could happen.
"We do know that sometimes such flares are accompanied by outbursts of high-energy radiation particles, which can travel near the speed of light and would easily penetrate space vehicle shielding.
"Monday’s flare erupted from a position to the east side of the Sun, but that ‘active region’ is expected to become somewhat more magnetically connected to the Earth and Moon in the coming days as it rotates further around to the west side. This could allow any radiation particles produced to travel more easily towards us. But equally, the active region may just fade away, or a new active region could emerge at any time. At present, we just don’t have the tools to predict what will happen."
"High energy radiation particles can be a cause of malfunctions in computers and electronics, and they also pose health risks for astronauts. Of course, NASA engineers and mission controllers will have put in place numerous layers of protection, testing and procedures to minimise the risk for this launch. However, each solar event is unique, and ground-based facilities cannot fully replicate the space environment.
"The Surrey Space Centre is currently working with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency on a new, highly compact High Energy Particle Instrument (HEPI) to measure these high-energy particles. We are already planning for its deployment in lunar orbit as part of the CLAIRE payload on the ESA Volatile Mineralogy Mapping Orbiter (VMMO). By doing this, we aim to better characterise the danger to future lunar bases, as well as to Earth."
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