Two days ago, Musk laid eggs like a hen, sending 49 satellites to the sky at once.
Guess what, it burned four-fifths at once...
On February 3, the satellites were launched on Falcon 9 into low-Earth orbit at a height of 210 kilometers.
The next day, the official announcement said: I have 49 insurance 9 this time, and the remaining 40 are all missing. They will all enter the atmosphere again, and there will be no slag left.
This burn, conservatively estimated the cost of optical satellites, will have to burn more than 20 million US dollars...
Suspected Starlink crash scene ▼
What the hell is going on? Although this starlink satellite, every three forks and five minutes is out of control in orbit.
But it is too rare to stumble on so many cases, netizens guess what: it may be that the latest Kryptonian thruster used by Musk is not powerful enough, and it is also said that the circuit is overloaded and the equipment is short-circuited.
Musk This is not a tofu slag project.
According to the information released on the official website that the atmospheric resistance has become larger, many media speculate that it is estimated to be inseparable from the sudden magnetic storm on Friday.
Shi Chao found that the magnetic storm is still quite mysterious, and scientists have not thoroughly explored its bottom line.
However, there are already a lot of research results. Some of the key information is hidden in the name, the full name of the magnetic storm is geomagnetic storm, to put it bluntly, the Earth's magnetic field is squeezed and deformed.
When the sun is intensely active, the coronal layer throws out a large number of high-speed plasma clouds, rushing towards the Earth.
First send ionizing radiation, and then add some high-energy particles, at this time the earth's own magnetic field will be like a protective cover, blocking most of the rays and particles. Like the internal force of the peerless master, blocking the enemy from being invisible.
But in contrast, it will be squeezed and deformed, causing the Earth's magnetic field to change.
Presumably, when you were a child, you have heard that pigeons rely on magnetic fields to distinguish directions. Then once the geomagnetism changes, the pigeons will get lost and can't go home.
So the up master you pay attention to is not updated, it may be overturned by the magnetic storm.
However, in fact, pigeons mainly rely on the sun to discern the direction. ▼
After reaching an altitude of 90 km, the higher you go, the air density is almost a jump. The lower down, the denser the gas and the more "sticky".
When these menacing particles enter the atmosphere, they will make the atmosphere expand and contract, sending the more "sticky" gases in the lower layer to the top.
At this moment, the starlink satellite that flew halfway was stopped.
According to the onboard GPS of the Starlink satellite, the magnetic storm caused the atmospheric drag to be exactly 50% higher than when it was launched before.
To counter the resistance, they hurried to put the satellite into safe mode. Fly the satellite sideways like a piece of paper to minimize drag.
Starlink satellite ▼
However, the reality is that the satellite froze in place during this magnetic storm that lasted for more than a dozen hours. 40 satellites were locked in safe mode and could not move.
It's okay to have to lift it, but it will cause the satellite to consume far more fuel than expected. Even if it is sent up, there is not enough fuel to work properly.
On is not going up, can only choose to come down, and then give in vain.
This matter can only be blamed on Musk too much back.
Although the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a February 4 magnetic storm warning the day before, there is no way to accurately predict the subsequent effects of this magnetic storm. Moreover, according to the data of the Space Environment Forecast center of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this magnetic storm is a small and medium-sized magnetic storm.
(The kp index is calculated from the K-index of 13 geomagnetic stations in the global geomagnetic network and is used to indicate global geomagnetic activity.) Generally, Kp=5 and 6 are called small and medium geomagnetic storms, and Kp=7, 8, and 9 are called geomagnetic storms. ）
However, fortunately, this is a magnetic storm brother, if it is a high-intensity magnetic storm, not only satellites, but even the power grid will be out of control.
Magnetic storms generate induced currents between the ground and the grid, causing transformers to heat up wildly or even burn them out. And it has an impact on pipes, communications, ground planes, and even the human body.
The strongest magnetic storm in human history is the Carrington Incident in 1859, when the geomagnetic storm lasted 6 days.
The result was also extremely outrageous: there were eight days of polar daylight in many places, and the aurora spread all the way to Cuba and Hawaii. Many transmitters in North America and Europe were burned down and transmission equipment was destroyed, resulting in widespread power and water outages, with economic losses of $2.8 trillion.
But that was the telegraph era of 1859, and if it happened in today's Internet age, it is estimated that half the world would be directly paralyzed.
Not to mention that the more than 3,000 satellites flying now are in danger, and the electrical equipment alone is paralyzed. A few hours can pull humans back to primitive times, and it takes 4 to 10 years to fully recover.
The point is that large amounts of electronic data will likely be erased and never recovered.
Fortunately, this devastating-level geomagnetic storm once in a hundred years, usually common magnetic storms are relatively small, and have no impact on us.
Then there must be a bad friend to ask, how far in advance can we predict the geomagnetic storm now? Can it be prevented in advance?
Unfortunately, magnetic storms are mainly caused by solar activity, and there are no too good rules at the moment, just like your girlfriend's face, which is a completely random event.
We can only guess whether the other person will lose his temper immediately after finding out that the other party's face is not good, based on the experience of being beaten in the past.
Fortunately, we are far away from the sun, and those high-energy particles will rush to 1-4 days. But this time span is the limit of the current forecast.
WSA-Enlil model ▼
Magnetic storms are even more difficult to predict than general solar activity.
It's useless for you to stare at the sun, and the current in the Earth's magnetosphere is also a reason. It directly causes the magnetosphere magnetic field to become stronger, disturbing the original magnetic field of the Earth.
And how the ions that make the current stronger, how to climb up from the ionosphere hundreds of kilometers away by magnetic storms, is still a mystery, and even what the earth's magnetosphere is, scientists have not yet figured it out too much.
But we are also actively trying to find ways to solve these problems.
Although we can't build an energy shield to protect ourselves, the so-called know thyself and know the other, and never lose a battle.
The continent's first integrated solar exploration satellite (advanced space-based solar observatory (ASO-S)) is scheduled to be launched in 2022, and this satellite is dedicated to dealing with "one magnetic storm and two storms".
Advanced Space-Based Solar Observatory (ASO-S)▼
It is designed to discover and study the formation and interrelationships of the Solar magnetic field, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (one magnetic and two storms). Moreover, it can almost meet the 24-hour continuous observation of the sun, real-time forecast.
After that, our research and prediction of solar activity is estimated to enter a new era.
Author: Four editors: face lines
Images, sources:
SpaceX website, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Forecast Center website
National Space Science Center | Magnetic Storms - The "Enemy" That Threatens Satellite Security
| china Meteorological Administration "Geomagnetic Storm Causes Rapid Drop in Altitude of Low-Orbit Satellites"
The Question: How to Predict the Solar Wind? @Pjer's answer, Musk's latest launch of the Starlink satellite scrapped 40 at a time, what is the cause? @ Space Monk's answer
|, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences The Cornerstone of Space Environment Forecasting - Solar Activity Monitoring
Hello Popular Science | "Corona Mass Ejection or Will It Directly Hit the Earth?" Probability 50%! Will the Carrington affair be repeated? 》
| of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China "Space Science (Phase II)" strategic leading science and technology project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was officially launched
Global Science | "The End of the Internet"