+murfster Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Interesting story out today in many major papers. The Global Positioning System, relied on for everything from navigating cars and airplanes to transferring money between banks, may be threatened by powerful solar flares, a panel of scientists warned Wednesday. Read more here! Murfster Quote Link to comment
danoshimano Posted April 5, 2007 Share Posted April 5, 2007 Let's see if I can remember this correctly: There's a constant solar wind bombarding our planet. It pushes against the "magnetosphere" which envelopes the planet. If you watched a movie of this action over time (they exist, and it is amazing), you would see this "envelope" being pushed closer to earth, and bouncing away. On the opposite side of the earth (away from the sun), the magnetosphere drags out in a trail (created by this solar wind). ALL satellites are inside this magnetosphere and are protected by it. The solar wind waxes and wanes over time, and every once in a while it maxes out (every 11 years, I believe). If it maxes out strong enough it could push that envelope far enough inward, and expose the satellites. This won't lead to a mere disruption, but rather would render them into nothing more than space junk. This is a real possibility. In fact, I think there are some scientists who say it is not a question of "if" but rather "when." I saw this a few years ago in the Imax film "Solarmax." If you get a chance, see it. It is quite amazing, especially when you are enveloped in it. Quote Link to comment
+2happy2gether Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 Let's see if I can remember this correctly: There's a constant solar wind bombarding our planet. It pushes against the "magnetosphere" which envelopes the planet. If you watched a movie of this action over time (they exist, and it is amazing), you would see this "envelope" being pushed closer to earth, and bouncing away. On the opposite side of the earth (away from the sun), the magnetosphere drags out in a trail (created by this solar wind). ALL satellites are inside this magnetosphere and are protected by it. The solar wind waxes and wanes over time, and every once in a while it maxes out (every 11 years, I believe). If it maxes out strong enough it could push that envelope far enough inward, and expose the satellites. This won't lead to a mere disruption, but rather would render them into nothing more than space junk. This is a real possibility. In fact, I think there are some scientists who say it is not a question of "if" but rather "when." I saw this a few years ago in the Imax film "Solarmax." If you get a chance, see it. It is quite amazing, especially when you are enveloped in it. The Van Allen Belt Quote Link to comment
danoshimano Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 The Van Allen Belt I'm missing something here... The Van Allen Belt is a bunch of particles trapped by the magnetosphere. But the satellites can't be inside them because all that radiation is not good for electronics. Perhaps it is the Van Allen belts that actually protect the satellites from the solar wind? Quote Link to comment
+2happy2gether Posted April 6, 2007 Share Posted April 6, 2007 The Van Allen Belt I'm missing something here... The Van Allen Belt is a bunch of particles trapped by the magnetosphere. But the satellites can't be inside them because all that radiation is not good for electronics. Perhaps it is the Van Allen belts that actually protect the satellites from the solar wind? I just learned something tonight, thank you. Quote Link to comment
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