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Tag: solar storm

  • Raining Satellites: Solar Storm Knocks Starlink Satellites From Orbit

    Raining Satellites: Solar Storm Knocks Starlink Satellites From Orbit

    Starlink has suffered a major setback, with a solar storm knocking some 40 satellites from orbit.

    Starlink is the satellite constellation SpaceX has been deploying to provide high-speed internet access around the world. The company launched 49 new satellites last week, but a solar storm has taken out the majority of them.

    The Starlink constellation is in low-Earth orbit (LEO). This allows Starlink to deliver much faster internet performance than legacy satellite systems. It also means that any satellite that fails its system checks will quickly fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere, preventing it from becoming another piece of orbiting space junk.

    Unfortunately, deploying the satellites in LEO means they are far more vulnerable to atmospheric conditions than satellites in higher orbit, as SpaceX explains:

    Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.

    Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.

    Starlink says the satellites pose no risk to people or terrestrial objects.

    The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.

  • NASA & AWS Partner To Use AI To Protect Life On Earth

    NASA & AWS Partner To Use AI To Protect Life On Earth

    NASA and AWS are working together to use artificial intelligence to protect Earth from solar superstorms, according to an Amazon blog post.

    As the world becomes ever more wired, solar coronal mass ejections (CME) represent a significant threat to countries around the globe. One such event occurred in March 1989, affecting the U.S. and Canada.

    According to Amazon, “the Hydro-Quebec electric grid collapsed within 90 seconds. A strong electric current surged through the surface bedrock making all intervention impossible. Over 6 million people were left without power for nine hours. At the same time, over in the United States, 200 instances of power grid malfunctions were reported. More worryingly, the step-up transformer at the New Jersey Salem Nuclear Power Plant failed and was put out of commission.”

    Given how much more digital the world is now, a CME like the ‘89 one could wreak havoc on power grids, satellites, wireless communication and much more. As a result, NASA is continually looking for ways to detect and warn of CMEs as early as possible, to give grid and satellite operators time to take protective measures. This is where AWS and Amazon’s experience with machine learning come into play.

    “NASA is working with AWS Professional Services and the Amazon Machine Learning (ML) Solutions Lab to use unsupervised learning and anomaly detection to explore the extreme conditions associated with superstorms,” writes Arun Krishnan, editor of the Amazon Science website. “The Amazon ML Solutions Lab is a program that enables AWS customers to connect with machine learning experts within Amazon.

    “With the power and speed of AWS, analyses to predict superstorms can be carried out by sifting through as many as 1,000 data sets at a time. NASA’s approach relies on classifying superstorms based on anomalies, rather than relying on an arbitrary range of magnetic indices. More specifically, NASA’s anomaly detection relies on simultaneous observations of solar wind drivers and responses in the magnetic fields around earth.”

    By analyzing anomalies, it gives NASA the ability to better understand what causes a solar superstorm and predict when one will occur.

    “To improve forecasting models, scientists can examine the anomalies and create simulations of what it would take to reproduce the superstorms we see today,” the blog continues. “They can amplify these simulations to replicate the most extreme cases in historical records, enabling model development to highlight subtle precursors to major space weather events.”

    NASA and Amazon are providing another excellent example of the transformative effect artificial intelligence and machine learning will continue to have on day-to-day life.