Aug 16 2005
From The Space Library
Russian cosmonaut and ISS crew member Sergei K. Krikalev set a world record of 748 days for total time spent in space. Krikalev had begun his cosmonaut training in 1985 and had first served as a crew member of Russia's Mir space station in 1988. Krikalev had served on the Mir crew again in 1991 and had later become a member of the first ISS crew comprising both Russian cosmonauts and U.S. astronauts. In addition, he had been the first Russian to travel on a NASA Space Shuttle, achieving that distinction on Shuttle Discovery in 1994. The ISS partners had scheduled Krikalev's return to Earth for October 2005~by then he would have spent 814 days in (Mark Carreau, “Russian Cosmonaut Sets a World Record of 748 Days in Space,” Houston Chronicle, 17 August 2005.)
NASA scientists led by Karel J. Schrijver announced the results of their research on the development of better methods of forecasting solar storms. Radiation from solar storms~extremely powerful explosions in the Sun's atmosphere~can affect unprotected astronauts and airplane passengers, as well as satellites. In the past, scientists had usually analyzed changes in solar magnetic fields to forecast solar storms (also called solar flares), but this method had demonstrated limited reliability. However, a team of NASA scientists using NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) had found that strong electrical currents in the solar atmosphere~currents associated with changes in solar magnetic fields~are the primary drivers of solar flares. Therefore, observing the electrical currents is a more reliable method of forecasting solar flares than the method previously used. The researchers had also discovered that solar flares are strongest and most likely to occur in regions of the Sun where electrical currents accumulate until they have reached an explosive threshold. According to Schrijver and the other researchers, these findings would enable scientists better to forecast periods of potentially hazardous space weather. (NASA, “NASA Scientists Closer to Timely Space Weather Forecasts,” news release 05-226, 16 August 2005; Carolus J. Schrijver et al., “The Nonpotentiality of Active-Region Coronae and the Dynamics of the Photospheric Magnetic Field,” Astrophysical Journal 628, no. 1 (20 July 2005): 501-5 13.)
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