genec

The satellites are expected to burn up completely on reentry. Might make a rather interesting display, depending on when and where they burn up... so "Look Up."

jack pot 

if you recall Heinlein predicted that earth would be partially destroyed by a charged particle attack emanating from the planet Klendathu ... the Klendathu attack was in response to Terran Federation's colonization incursion(s) into the galactic homelands of the skinnies and arachnids

Hondo Gravel

A solar wind destroyed the MTV satellite years ago.

genec

Look into Carrington event.

skijor

The BF pirate satt is still up there, orbiting my living room.
Cashing in the bill of rights.

noisebeam

That is mild as to what could happen. Possibly more frequent than originally thought as well.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27891-4

genec

Whoosh, flash... and it's all over. We might have a day's warning, as light travels faster than the SEP.

blacknbluebikes 

rather expensive fireworks.

79pmooney

So, ship leaves port without the captain checking the weather forecast. Storm hits, mission fails entirely, all cargo was lost and ship barely made it home. Old story.

CliffordK

If this is caused by the solar wind, then it is a particle stream from the sun, that takes a couple of days to arrive. It should have been visible from the sun monitoring satellites long before the launch (which transmits the speed of light).

They usually have a narrow window when they want to do their launch, and this may have impacted launching without considering the solar wind.

Was this solar wind problem due to a Cruise Ship trying to get a view of the launch, and causing the previous launch to be scrubbed? That could become a major liability issue on all parts.

Darth Lefty 

There was a running gag in some 90's cartoon show where things kept getting bashed into the MTV satellite... I think it might have been Eek! The Cat or maybe Megas XLR. I'll have to look it up after work

I'm thinking the Eek! version had to do with Hubble so it was probably Megas

Edit: The Eek! gag was better. Eek would be ejected to space and collide with the Hubble, whereupon the deadpan scientists on the ground, who just then believe they finally have it fixed, turn it on and see whatever it's pointed at now. The Megas gag by comparison happened only once and was a brick joke. I must have remembered it as a running gag due to reruns

jack pot 

... and it all could have been avoided had the rocket heads just taken the time to check their solar weather app or maybe it's aa 21st century flavor of insurance fraud

• ACE Real-Time Solar Wind

CURRENT SPACE WEATHER CONDITIONS

on NOAA Scales

ACE REAL-TIME SOLAR WIND

Duration: 2 hours 6 hours 24 hours 3 days 7 days
Low Energy Electrons & Protons - Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (EPAM)
Low Energy Electrons - Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (EPAMe)
Low Energy Protons - Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (EPAMp)
Magnetic Field
Plasma - Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM)
Magnetic Field & Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM)
High Energy Protons - Solar Isotope Spectrometer (SIS)

• Usage
• Impacts
• Details
• History
• Data

The NASA Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite enables SWPC to give advance warning of geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms are a natural hazard, like hurricanes and tsunamis, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) forecasts for the public's benefit. Geomagnetic storms impact the electric power grid, aircraft operations, GPS, manned spaceflight, and satellite operations, to name some of the most damaging. Severe geomagnetic storms can result in electric utility blackouts over a wide area.

The location of ACE at the L1 libration point between the Earth and the Sun, about 1,500,000 km forward of Earth, enables ACE to give up to one hour advance warning of the arrival of damaging space weather events at Earth. SWPC issues warnings of imminent geomagnetic storms using these data.

Ground tracking status for the ACE satellite is available here.

genec

"Hey Boss... I know we just launched, but according to this app on my smartphone, we're gonna get hit by a solar storm in about one hour... uh, oops."

CliffordK

So that should give very accurate data, but the location at L1 would limit the delay if the solar wind hasn't arrived yet.

The various solar monitoring satellites should give an idea of an approaching CME (coronal mass ejection), with a couple of days advance notice using optical data, but it may take more effort to interpret the data.

Joe Bikerider

I am not surprised. Mr. Musk doesn’t seem that interested in anything except his babies. Keep watching for his rocket booster now about to crash into the moon.

tyrion

The solar wind, came blowing in...

zandoval 

Just another reminder of how statistically insignificant we all are...

roundypndr 

I get reminded of that whenever the star Sirus makes it's appearance in the sky at this time of year. To us, it's a twinkling little light in the sky, but at twice the size of our sun and 27 times brighter, Googolplex sunscreen anyone?

zandoval 

Orion would never have a small dog...

jack pot 

^^^^ No matter where your at... There you are... Δf:=f(1/2)-f(-1/2) according to my most recent calculations i am not "there" ............................................ but i guess a lot depends on who gets to define "there" or how "there" is defined which has been a constant impediment to me arriving anywhere but my efforts to separate my "here" from the theoretical "there" has reduced me to an existence that even Escher couldn't draw, much less phantom ..... i guess that's because no matter the curve of your orbit you are really traveling in a linear reality ................................................................................. eureka !!!

genec

BTW it turns out Musk et. al. knew of the solar storm and it's potential prior to launch, and chose to launch anyway... believing the storms were below a level of harm.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-...ites/100818798

jack pot 

those guys that launch rockets still aint learned that NOW is not always the best time to 5-4-3-2-1

.......... long live those in the Vanguard

genec

Actually, there were several delays to launch... including a cruise ship in the danger zone... so yeah, they know how to "not launch." But the pressure of meeting media and investor deadlines can sometimes be ridiculous... (and honestly should be ignored).

BTW did you know that the area code for Cape Canaveral (typical launch site) is 321?