Solar orbiter mission captures sun blasts that could disrupt technology on Earth
CNN — An accident turned out to be helpful when the Solar Orbiter mission caught a glimpse of some eruptions coming from the sun.
The eruptions, called coronal mass ejections, blast out solar particles across the solar system and have the potential to disrupt technology if they reach Earth.
A flyby brought the spacecraft within 46.5 million miles of the sun — that’s half the distance between the massive star and Earth. Instruments picked up on the eruptions on Feb. 10.
It was the first time the orbiter witnessed the eruptions.
The mission, which launched in February 2020,...