Despite rescue efforts, no one has heard from one of two NASA spacecraft on the far side of the Sun since October 1st.
Solar physicists always worry about the damage to Earth that might occur if the Sun were to unleash a titanic flare and zap our planet with a potent blast wave of energetic particles. So, during the past two decades, NASA has launched a series of spacecraft designed to keep tabs on the Sun and the “space weather” it creates.
Key to this plan is Stereo, the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory. Launched in 2006, Stereo A looped around the Moon and swung into a heliocentric orbit “ahead” of Earth, while Stereo B took up a solar orbit “behind” the Earth. They provide views of the Sun and its surroundings from angles we can’t see.
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