12. Due to solar storms, meteorite showers and other conditions, is there a best time to go? *(response: Jim Zebrowski) (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

Solar storms can be very hard to predict even with our current technologies, but you can be assured that big storms would happen during the peak of the solar cycle. So I would pick a good time during the solar minimum but would stay in touch with Mission Control for any updates from missions like the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) or the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) that might signal that our Sun is ready to hurl dangerous amounts of highly energetic particles in my direction. Then I would be off to the better-shielded parts of my spacecraft for safety! It is also important to realize that even robotic spacecraft can be affected by the solar storms since the highly energetic particles can fry delicate silicon chips and guidance control components on board. Meteorite showers would be easier to avoid since they only occur during certain times of the year during Earth's annual orbit around the Sun. Remember, meteor showers are just left-over debris from comets that crash into the Earth's atmosphere at high velocities and burn up high above the ground. Look up: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/ y2004/18oct_solarminimum.htm (See CDROM) to learn more.

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Answer provided by Sir Richard Branson & Jim Zebrowski

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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