Solar flare delays International Space Station supply mission

• Virginia company delays delivery of supplies
• Solar flare does not pose threat to astronauts aboard ISS

• Associated Press in Cape Canaveral, Florida
• 
  
• theguardian.com, Wednesday 8 January 2014 15.38 EST

Orbital Sciences Corp's Antares rocket before its planned launch in Wallops Island, Virginia. Photograph: Bill Ingalls/Nasa/Getty Images

A strong solar storm is interfering with the latest grocery run to the International Space Station.
On the bright side, the orbiting lab has won a four-year extension, pushing its projected end-of-lifetime to at least 2024, a full decade from now.
"This is a big plus for us," said Nasa's human exploration chief, Bill Gerstenmaier.
On Wednesday, Orbital Sciences Corp delayed its space station delivery mission for the third time.
The company's unmanned rocket, the Antares, was set to blast off from Wallops Island, Virginia, with a capsule full of supplies and science experiments, including ants for an educational project. But several hours before Wednesday afternoon's planned flight, company officials took the unusual step of postponing the launch for fear solar radiation could doom the rocket.
Orbital Sciences' chief technical officer, Antonio Elias, said solar particles might interfere with electronics equipment in the rocket, and lead to a launch failure.
Although the solar storm barely rated moderate, some passenger jets were being diverted from the poles to avoid potential communication and health issues. GPS devices also were at risk.
But the six men aboard the space station were safe from the solar fallout, Nasa said, and satellites also faced no threat. The Cygnus cargo ship aboard the rocket, for example, is built to withstand radiation from solar flare-ups.


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X-Flare Arrival and Duration Update.

BPEarthWatch

Published on Jan 8, 2014

Nasa now say this will be a 34 hour event. The entire Earth will be under Pressure.

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X-Flare is Now Impacting Earth. It is MidNight UTC.

BPEarthWatch    

Published on Jan 8, 2014

Quick Update! Solar and Quake Links http://www.bpearthwatch.com

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