Atlantis shuttle; power lost in space. More solar storm problems

With the increasing concern about the Sun here is some interesting news. The question is how bad will the solar storms get? Is this related to the massive amount of global power cuts world wide in recent months? And why are they keeping quite in the media about all of this?

Power lost in space

Definitive evidence on this "aggressive sun activity" would be vastly appreciated.

Is this something that we can even avoid, really?

I check the Solar numbers a couple of times a day because it is part of understanding the ability of radio waves to propagate in the ionosphere. This is for Ham Radio, one of my hobbies. I don't think there's been any solar storms (coronal mass ejections) in at least the last two weeks. The first predictions for this Solar Cycle were varied, from an average, medium peak, to a very large peak. Some even predicted a lower than average Solar Max. Solar scientists don't agree on when Solar Max will occur, and some are even saying as late as 2013. Let's remember that the Shuttle is outside our atmosphere, so it is vulnerable to cosmic rays, etc. We forget space is a dangerous environment. As far as the Earth is concerned, the orientation and strength of our magnetic field is critical to how much damage a mass ejection can produce, as well as where we are in our orbital year, where we are in relationship to the Sun.

Still, it's interesting. Also that there could be some connection to the filament on the Sun right now.

Originally posted by Durant
Still, it's interesting. Also that there could be some connection to the filament on the Sun right now.

Is FILAMENT an already widely established term used by the experts... or is it just how you've chosen to describe it??? I would have classed it as a FISSURE.

[edit on 20/5/2010 by Hedera Helix]