Communication lost! Telstar 401 On January 6, 1997, the Sun released a huge cloud of plasma called a Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME, in the direction of Earth. Traveling at about a million miles per hour, the CME reached Earth just four days later. On January 10 the CME slammed into Earth’s magnetosphere. Lots of high energy particles became trapped in Earth’s radiation belts, exposing some orbiting geosynchronous satellites to danger. The Telstar 401 satellite carried television programming for a number of networks and was lost soon after this storm event. Network programming had to be quickly rerouted to other satellites to avoid programming outages. It is possible that the CME was responsible for wiping out Telstar 401, but without actually examining the satellite it is hard to know with certainty. The Halloween Storms of 2003 In October and early November 2003, the Sun's atmosphere went through a period of great unrest, seldom seen in recent times. Massive flares and CMEs erupted from several giant Sunspot groups. By the end of the year, seven major solar storms occurred including the largest X-ray solar flare and the fastest moving CME every recorded. The storms caused communication disruptions. One of the CMEs was likely responsible for the failure of several communication satellites. Auroras could be seen as far south as the southern U.S. They also caused power outages in Sweden and disrupted airplane routes around the world. Space explorers are bathed in radiation In one year, an unprotected astronaut on the Moon’s surface would be exposed to 200 times the radiation dose allowed by the EPA – the equivalent of 2,000 chest X-rays. If astronauts ever journey to Mars, their spaceship will need warning systems and safety areas to protect them from solar disturbances.