NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft captured only direct measurements of a Carrington-class solar storm in 2012
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By Space Daily Editorial Team · Editorial process
Summary
On July 23, 2012, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft was struck by a Carrington-class coronal mass ejection — the same intensity as the 1859 solar storm that caused global telegraph system failures. Because Earth had been in that orbital position a week earlier, the planet was spared. STEREO-A survived the impact and transmitted the only detailed in-situ measurements ever recorded from inside an extreme solar storm, providing invaluable data for understanding space weather and its potential threats to modern infrastructure.
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bskyNASA's STEREO-A spacecraft captured only direct measurements of a Carrington-class solar storm in 2012spacedaily.comKey quotes
· 5 pulledOn July 23, 2012, NASA's STEREO-A spacecraft was drifting ahead of Earth in its solar orbit when a coronal mass ejection tore off the Sun and slammed directly into its instruments — a blast that would later be measured at Carrington-class intensity, the same scale as the 1859 storm.
STEREO-A felt it. Earth did not.
The spacecraft was sitting in the path of the eruption, and because it kept recording through the impact, scientists now have the only detailed in-situ measurements ever taken from inside an extreme solar storm.
The probe survived. The data it sent back has shaped every serious
Earth had been in that exact spot a week earlier.
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