ESA mission controllers react to solar flare

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A significant geomagnetic storm impacted the Earth beginning early Thursday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. Eastern time 14 December according to forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder Colo. Impacts from this event can cause problems  ...
A significant geomagnetic storm impacted the Earth beginning early Thursday afternoon around 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, 14 December, according to forecasters at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colo. Impacts from this event can cause problems with High Frequency communications, satellite operations and induce currents in power grids. Credits: ESA/NASA

An energetic storm on the Sun has forced ESA mission controllers to react to anomalies or take action to avoid damage to spacecraft. Several missions, including Integral, Cluster and Envisat, felt the storm's effects, highlighting the need for ESA's ongoing development of space weather forecasting tools.


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All News summaries for December 15, 2006

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