SPACE WIRE
Powerful solar eruption set to strike Earth
WASHINGTON (AFP) Oct 29, 2003
The third most-powerful solar eruption ever witnessed continued Wednesday, as a massive explosion of hot gas and flares thrown out by the Sun sped towards the Earth.

The European and American space agencies, were set to monitor the shower of hot gases as it rains over the Earth, said the gas shower is travelling at some 2,000 kilometers a second (1,250 miles a second).

The solar storm could damage some communications satellites, and possibly land-based power grids, but scientists said they won't know precisely whether this could occur until about 15 minutes before the shower falls into the Earth's atmosphere.

Commercial airliners can also experience higher levels of radiation during such solar storms.

The storm erupted from the Sun early Tuesday, firing electronically charged gas straight towards the Earth.

Scientists said the Sun's eruptions were significantly stronger than recent blasts.

As a precaution, the two crew members of the International Space Station have been ordered to spend periods of time sheltered in the Zvezda service module, which offers them higher protection from increased radiation levels.

The speed of the Sun storm was headed toward the Earth at around five times the velocity of previous emissions, explained Bernhard Fleck, a scientist in charge of a US-EU space observation satellite.

The eruption includes a shower of X-rays which could interfere with Earth-based radioelectrical communications, according to a joint statement from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the European Space Agency.

The Sun's most powerful explosion of flares and gases into space occurred in April 2000, but that burst was directed away from the Earth.

SPACE.WIRE