Solar Blast

On March 13, 1989 a blackout instantly knocked out power for 9 million people in Montreal, Quebec. Auroral lights were observed as well as reports of strange incidents where bedroom lamps still glowed after the power had gone out. What caused this complete shut down of power? From 93 million miles away, the Sun had launched an attack, a Coronal Mass Ejection or CME. This 'hurricane' of gas and plasma, traveling at a million miles per hour, had interfered with the Earth's magnetic shield generating ten million megawatts of electrical power. The result: power lines, pipelines and any stretches of conductive material were affected. SOLAR BLAST studies this little known phenomenon and looks at its possible implications. What if Mission Apollo had landed on the Moon during this type of solar event - the results would have been fatal. And this is not the end, scientists are predicting another solar maximum to take place in 2000-2001 and the potential impact is unknown.