Solar Storms, Another Obstacle Entering the New Millenium? Storms in space could have a devastating effect on our society. Solar storms are a result of solar flares and are electromagnetic in nature. They are capable of causing power outages and halting all types of communication, including; electronic pagers; radio and television broadcasts; credit card transactions; military communications; etc. Solar flares are cyclical, usually over a period of eleven years. There are three basic stages to …showed first 75 words of 802 total…

…showed last 75 words of 802 total…unreliable periods, which will render them useless, or cause false information to be provided. The military has paid NASA approximately $20 million to develop and install a solar X-ray imager on a weather satellite. The prototype sensor will provide advance warning of approaching solar radiation bursts. With warning the military can reorient satellites to protect them from particle bombardment. They will also delay planned satellite documents and shut down systems to mitigate the Solar Maximum effects.