{"id":167773,"date":"2022-02-10T20:01:46","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T14:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=167773"},"modified":"2022-02-10T20:02:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T14:32:45","slug":"geomagnetic-storm-that-killed-starlink-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/geomagnetic-storm-that-killed-starlink-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"Geomagnetic storm that killed Starlink satellite\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>What is the news?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Dozens of Satellites that were part of the Starlink Project were caught in a geomagnetic storm a day after they were launched. This is being described as an unusual and huge event, as around 40 satellites, most of a single launch batch, were lost in a single solar event.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are Geomagnetic or Solar storms?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Solar storms are <\/span>magnetic plasma<\/span><\/b> ejected at great speed <\/span>from the solar surface<\/span><\/b>. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They occur during the release of magnetic energy associated with <\/span>sunspots<\/span><\/b> (\u2018dark\u2019 regions on the Sun that are cooler than the surrounding photosphere)<\/em>, and can last for a few minutes or hours.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The recent storm that caused this loss was was <\/span>unusual,\u00a0an unexpectedly extended event and of a kind not seen in the recent past<\/span><\/b>. As the latter part of the storm, with its high density core, possessed speeds higher than what was recorded during the storm\u2019s arrival<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are they harmful?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Although all solar flares do not reach Earth, but those that come close can impact <\/span>space weather <\/span><\/b>in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They can <\/span>effect operations of space-dependent services<\/span><\/b> like global positioning systems (GPS), radio, and satellite communications, high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation systems, Aircraft flights, power grids, and space exploration programmes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They can also create disturbances in <\/span>the magnetosphere which is a protective shield<\/span><\/b> surrounding the Earth.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, <\/span>Astronauts on spacewalks<\/span><\/b> face health risks from possible exposure to solar radiation outside the Earth\u2019s protective atmosphere.<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the way forward?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

Current computer models are capable of predicting a storm\u2019s time of arrival and its speed but not its structure or orientation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the global dependence on satellites is increasing day by day for almost every activity, there is a need for <\/span>better space weather forecasts<\/span><\/b> and <\/span>more effective ways to protect satellites.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: <\/span><\/b>This post is based on the article \u201c<\/span>Geomagnetic storm that killed Starlink satellite<\/span><\/b>\u201d published in <\/span>The Indian express <\/span><\/b>on 10<\/strong><\/span>th<\/strong> Feb 2022<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0What is the news? Dozens of Satellites that were part of the Starlink Project were caught in a geomagnetic storm a day after they were launched. This is being described as an unusual and huge event, as around 40 satellites, most of a single launch batch, were lost in a single solar event.\u00a0 What are… Continue reading Geomagnetic storm that killed Starlink satellite\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,9],"tags":[10500],"class_list":["post-167773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-public","tag-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704817930},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}