WASHINGTON (voa) – NASA has launched a satellite to study gigantic explosions on the surface of the sun called solar flares – and how the particles emitted by the flares disrupt life on Earth.
The HESSI satellite was launched into orbit Tuesday by a rocket dropped from an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean.
During its expected two years in orbit, it will take color X-ray images of the different kinds of particles spewed out by solar flares. Scientists say the particles are hurled into the Earth’s atmosphere at the speed of light, where they often black out radio communication and shut down electric power grids.
Scientists hope the images recorded by the satellite will help them understand what causes solar flares, the different kinds of particles spewed out, and how the particles get accelerated in their journey to the Earth and beyond.
A massive solar flare was responsible for a nine-hour electricity blackout in Quebec, Canada in 1989.
