NBCNews.com
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This
full-sun view combines two images from NASA's Solar Dynamics
Observatory captured on Jan. 7, 2014. Together, the images show the
location of a giant sunspot group on the sun, and the position of an
X-class flare that erupted at 1:32 p.m.
Huge solar flare delays private rocket launch to space station
4 hours ago
NASA/SDO
This full-sun view combines two images from NASA's Solar Dynamics
Observatory captured on Jan. 7, 2014. Together, the images show the
location of a giant sunspot group on the sun, and the position of an
X-class flare that erupted at 1:32 p.m. EST.
The first major solar flare of 2014 erupted from a massive sunspot seven times the size of Earth on Tuesday (Jan. 7) after a series of mid-level sun storms in recent days. The event occurred as the commercial spaceflight company Orbital Sciences was preparing to launch a landmark cargo delivery flight to the space station today with its Antares rocket and robotic Cygnus spacecraft.
"Early this morning the Antares launch team decided to scrub today's launch attempt due to an unusually high level of space radiation that exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket's electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment," Orbital Sciences officials said in a statement today. [Biggest Solar Flares of 2014 (Photos)]
The Antares rocket was awaiting an afternoon launch at its pad here at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility when the decision was made. It is the latest delay for the mission, which was initially pushed back from a mid-December liftoff when astronauts on the station had to perform emergency cooling system repairs, and later postponed a day due to the extremely cold weather affecting the United States this week.
The solar flare currently poses no threat to the six astronauts and cosmonauts currently living on the International Space Station. The crew will not have take to any measures to shelter themselves from the solar flare's radiation, NASA spokesman Rob Navias, of the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston, told SPACE.com in an email.
The Jan. 7 solar flare occurred at 1:32 p.m. EST (1832 GMT) from an active sunspot region known as AR1944. The sunspot facing Earth from the middle of the sun, as viewed from Earth, and is "one of the largest sunspots seen in the last 10 years," NASA officials said in a statement Tuesday.
The solar flare registered as an X1.2-class sun storm, the strongest class of solar flares the sun can release. It occurred just hours after an intense M7.2-class solar flare earlier on Tuesday, and followed several days of increased solar activity on the sun.
"The solar flux activity that occurred late yesterday afternoon resulted in an increasing level of radiation beyond what the Antares engineering team monitored earlier in the day," NASA officials added in a separate statement today. "Overnight, Orbital's engineers conducted an analysis of the radiation levels, but the Antares team decided to postpone the launch to further examine the potential effects of the space radiation on the rocket's avionics. The Cygnus spacecraft would not be affected by the solar event."
The sun is currently in an active phase of its 11-year solar weather cycle. The current cycle, known as Solar Cycle 24, began in 2008.
Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft had a 95-percent chance of good weather for today's planned launch at 1:32 p.m. EST (1832 GMT). That weather forecast deteriorates as the week progresses, with cloudy conditions dropping it to 70-percent chance of favorable weather on Thursday, and the potential for rain on Friday leaving just a 30-percent chance of good launch conditions, NASA Wallops test director Sarah Daughtery told SPACE.com.
Orbital Sciences officials said they are closely monitoring the fallout from Tuesday's solar flares.
"Orbital will continue to monitor the levels of space radiation with a goal of setting a new launch date as soon as possible," company officials said.
Orbital has a $1.9 billion contract with NASA to launch 40,000 lbs. of supplies to the International Space Station by 2016 using its Antares rockets and disposable Cygnus spacecraft. The first Antares and Cygnus test flights launched in 2013, with today's launch expected to mark the first official cargo delivery for Orbital.
For the delivery flight, called Orb-1, the Cygnus spacecraft is carrying 2,780 pounds (1,260 kilograms) of gear to the International Space Station. That haul includes a space ant colony, 33 small cubesat satellites and 23 other experiments designed by students from across the country.
The Dulles, Va.-based Orbital Sciences is one of two companies with a NASA contract to delivery supplies to the space station. The other company is SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., which has launched two of 12 planned delivery missions for NASA under a $1.6 billion agreement. The third mission in SpaceX's schedule is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Feb. 22.
Visit SPACE.com today for complete coverage of Orbital Sciences' Cygnus cargo launch to the International Space Station. SPACE.com partner Spaceflight Now is also offering updates via its Cygnus Mission Status Center.
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on SPACE.com.
- The Sun's Wrath: Worst Solar Storms in History
- Photos: Orbital Sciences' 1st Cygnus Cargo Mission to Space Station
- Solar Quiz: How Well Do You Know Our Sun?
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