Prometheus 6

Last time I brought down the Fire of the Gods there were none of these damn satellites...

Solar Storm Disrupts Space Missions

An "energetic" storm on the sun disrupted signals in space and forced mission controllers to shut systems down to avoid damage to spacecraft orbiting Earth, the European Space Agency said.

The sun expelled a solar flare Wednesday after a buildup of magnetic energy triggered an explosion, the ESA said yesterday. The flare gave rise to a coronal mass ejection that sent a stream of fast-moving atomic particles toward Earth, the agency said.

One of four Cluster spacecraft operated by the agency lost power, and an instrument on another shut itself down after the burst of solar energy. Ten astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery and the international space station slept in a protected area as a precaution.

Particles discharged by solar storms can disrupt broadcast signals and navigation networks.