Word: solarization
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...unfortunately SOHO and the Polar are research satellites, meaning that they do not transmit data continuously. But next year NASA will launch the Advanced Composition Explorer, or ACE satellite, and place it in permanent orbit between the earth and the sun. Moment by moment, ACE will sample the solar wind and, almost as quickly, relay its findings back. If a blob of plasma heads this way, then ACE will see it--and alert forecasters like Hildner that a big one is about...
...danger of geomagnetic storms is even worse, however, during solar maximum. At that time, long tongues of fiery plasma leap from the surface of the sun and rush toward earth like guided missiles. Sometimes the force of their impact is so great that the magnetosphere convulsively contracts. Even spacecraft in near-earth orbit can find themselves outside the magnetosphere's protective embrace, exposed to blasts of high-energy protons. A direct hit by these protons, experts warn, could prove lethal to astronauts working in space...
...most violent space storms of all occur when magnetic field lines in the solar wind connect with those that surround the earth, creating a kind of funnel that channels huge quantities of solar plasma into the magnetosphere. In response, powerful currents surge through the high reaches of the atmosphere, where they can utterly scramble broadcast signals, and even through seawater and bedrock. These surface currents can corrode buried pipelines, interrupt transatlantic phone conversations and overheat electrical transformers. In 1989, during the most recent solar maximum, currents induced by a geomagnetic storm brought down the power grid that supplies Canada...
...next solar maximum, due sometime around the year 2000, could create worse nightmares. For one thing, modern societies, with their cellular phones and satellite navigation and communications systems, have become more vulnerable than ever to electronic disruptions. Equally worrisome is the fact that electrical utilities have created enormous, interconnected power grids in an attempt to save money. The power outages that plagued the American West this summer provide a dramatic illustration of how vulnerable these systems have become. "The scale," says transmission expert John Kappenman of Minnesota Power and Light, "is scary." Financial losses alone would amount to billions...
...warning, though, the people who manage satellites, pipelines and electric utilities might be able to limit damage by powering down damage-prone electronics or temporarily severing the connections among power grids. But first scientists must figure out how to make more accurate forecasts of the complex interaction between the solar wind and the earth...