Chapter 1268 The much-anticipated countdown
To the surprise of most people, the Chinese Space Administration’s previous statement that solar storms may affect the safety of the space station actually aroused global public attention and concern about the matter in the following two months——
Although in fact, the frequency of solar activity bursts is much more frequent than most people imagine, but objectively speaking, the intensity of this wave in the autumn of 2006 is indeed a level never seen since mankind entered the space age.
On the other hand, people subjectively tend to exaggerate threats they have never seen or experienced.
This tendency not only exists among the people who eat melons, but also affects the judgment of decision-makers to a great extent.
For example, the so-called "Y2K virus" that was a hot topic in the early years even caused many space launch plans to be advanced or delayed, just because of concerns about possible computer time errors during New Year's Eve missions.
Therefore, due to public opinion and public attention, in order to be on the safe side, some communication, remote sensing or television satellites that provide services to the public have issued announcements in advance, announcing that they may suspend services or reduce their power during the few days when solar activity is strongest in early September. Service quality.
Naturally, this reaction came back to reinforce concerns at the social level.
The threats faced by the International Space Station have also been mentioned several times as an addendum.
Obviously, this is definitely not good news for NASA, which has been trying to reduce the impact.
They know very well that in the current environment, if you rashly ask an expert to come out to refute the rumors, then as the saying goes, "Only things that are officially denied can be trusted," it will be equivalent to confirming the concerns of the masses.
However, after all, Americans are veterans at playing with the media.
Even in such a headwind situation, we still found a strategy to break the situation——
In order to reduce unnecessary worries about this solar storm, the NASA News Center will launch a live interview program "Exploring the Storm" divided into three periods through DirecTV, a satellite TV company owned by Fox, starting from September 1. , popularizing knowledge about the space field to the audience.
Of course, popularizing common sense is all superficial reasons. The key is that the three days from September 1st to 3rd are the most violent stages of solar storms, and this interview program can directly prove to the outside world that the impact of solar activity bursts on satellite operations The impact is far less terrifying than other media exaggerated...
……
September 1, 8:30 pm EST.
Fox News Live Room.
After the initial running-in stage, the first episode of "Exploring the Storm" has gradually begun to enter its climax.
"Dear viewers, before the start of this program, we have opened message windows through the Internet and telephone. Now, please ask the director to randomly select a few questions with high agreement for our guests to answer."
While maintaining a sweet smile on her face, the host Ms. Isabelle Carano followed the steps that had been rehearsed many times in advance and opened the list of questions she had prepared under the table——
As for questions from the audience, of course it is just a gimmick to increase the amount of interaction and attention.
How is it possible to allow viewers with unknown backgrounds to access the live broadcast?
Asking random questions is the next best thing. If you encounter someone who is desperate to create a terrorist attack preview or something like that, it will be a live broadcast accident.
"The first question is from the message board filtering of our official website, and it is also the most frequently asked question in the background..."
Since the preset program flow was quite tight, the host just gave it up a little and continued:
"It is said that the intensity of this solar storm has never been seen in the past 150 years. So will it affect the normal lives of ordinary people on the surface?"
As he spoke, he looked at John Yambrick on the other side of the studio:
"Mr. Supervisor, I wonder if you can satisfy the curiosity of the audience?"
As one of the most popular hosts on the channel, Carano's appearance can only be regarded as Zhou Zheng, but his voice has a different kind of cadence that can grab people's attention.
"Of course."
Yambrick straightened up slightly and nodded to the camera:
"However, I first need to correct a small detail in the problem, that is, so far, there is no evidence that the intensity of this solar activity exceeds the previous cycles..."
Of course, this answer had been arranged long ago, but Carano still showed a high degree of professionalism, frowning slightly, as if he did not expect to hear such an answer at all:
"However, both the China Space Administration and the European Space Agency have previously given analysis conclusions on this solar storm..."
The rhetorical question stopped abruptly in the middle of the sentence, just like a person realized he had made a mistake in the middle of blurting out a sentence.
After a short pause, he asked again:
"Are the data...or analysis conclusions they gave wrong?"
There was no trace of performance in the smooth operation. Not to mention the audience in front of the TV, even the program director who knew the inside story had a feeling that it "didn't look like an act."
Yambrick let out a hearty laugh:
"Hahaha... Of course the data they gave is correct, and the analysis conclusion cannot be said to be problematic, but based on past experience, the prediction results of solar storms by existing observation methods will be seriously high, and the magnitude of the high There is almost no pattern.”
"Take the strong solar radio flux event in October 2003 as an example. At that time, the global satellite positioning signal was lost to a certain extent due to solar activity, but the minimum flux value actually affected by the solar radio noise storm was not The original estimate of 40,000 S.F.U instead only ranged from 4,000-12,000 S.F.U. The average degree of impact was less than one-fifth of the estimate..."
"Wait..."
Carano interrupted the other party with a flustered expression, as if the situation was completely out of his control:
"Why have I never heard of something like this happening in 2003?" "I mean...if even the GPS is lost, the impact should be very serious? For example, an airplane or a ship... ”
Yambrick waved his hand:
"The traffic impact of less than 10,000 S.F.U is not enough to have a fatal impact on data transmission, and although solar activity is a long-period event, the time when the actual outbreak is enough to affect the Earth's surroundings is very short..."
"The incident we just talked about started at 10:51 UTC on October 28, 2003, but the first 8 minutes were just an M-level outbreak with very low intensity, and it did not turn into an X-level outbreak until 11:02. and began to affect some satellites Work, the impact had completely stopped by 11:06, and even the most severely affected area over the South Pacific only lasted for 4 minutes. In other areas, it was generally within 30 seconds, and most people were unable to notice it..."
"..."
It was not until the end of this paragraph that Carano's expression barely recovered, but he still patted his chest with some lingering charm, obviously taking a long breath of relief:
"In other words, there won't actually be any impact this time?"
According to the plan, this round of Q&A has come to an end, and the guests only need to give a firm conclusion.
However, Yambrick suddenly changed his tone and shook his head in a very solemn manner;
"Of course not!"
? ? ?
Carano, who was hit by a sudden attack, felt his heart suddenly shrink and almost couldn't help but lower his head to read the script.
Why is this completely different from what we said before?
Cold sweat flowed down.
Carano reached out and gently brushed his long brown hair that covered half of his face, but he was actually preparing to turn on the on-site ear monitor switch and receive instructions from the background.
But the program director in the background was completely confused at the moment and had no idea what the other party wanted to say next.
In order to ensure the effect, this program is a real live broadcast.
If something really happened, no one would be able to save him.
Fortunately, this heart-wrenching scene only lasted less than half a second.
Just when the host was about to think that Yambrick had been bribed by the Chinese and was about to break a big news in the live broadcast room, the latter returned to his original appearance and showed a cynical smile:
"When solar storms hit the Earth, charged particles will enter the Earth's magnetosphere more frequently and on a larger scale, and the aurora phenomenon will become more active. Strong solar activity may cause the aurora belt to expand toward the equator, making it possible for people to Aurora can be observed..."
"So, viewers in front of the TV, whether you are a photography enthusiast, an astronomer, or an observer who simply enjoys the wonders of nature, may have the opportunity to witness the most spectacular aurora brought by this solar cycle, especially Friends who live in mid-to-high latitudes, as long as you look up at the night sky, you will most likely be able to see the brilliant colors..."
Carano, whose heart was about to burst out of his throat, breathed a long sigh of relief and quickly made amends on the spot:
"After today's program, our news channel will also launch a photo collection activity also called "Exploring the Storm". We welcome all viewers to actively participate..."
……
"Huh..."
Director Griffin, who was far away at NASA headquarters, saw this scene and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he showed a helpless smile and said to himself:
"I never realized before that this old guy with a stiff face actually has a sense of humor..."
Then he picked up the remote control and turned off the TV.
There is still about an hour left in this episode, but it is no longer important.
The content just now, coupled with the steady output of the satellite TV channel, was enough to divert everyone's attention.
"The next thing is..."
Griffin reached out to the phone on his desk.
"Ring ring ring——"
And just at this moment, the phone rang.
After the movement of his hand stopped for a moment, he picked up the receiver again:
"I'm Michael Griffin."
"Director!"
Assistant Meyer's voice came from the other end of the phone:
"The Chinese people... also held a live TV broadcast."
"Huh?"
Griffin was stunned for a moment, and it took him about half a second to react, and he laughed contemptuously:
"Why, it's a talk show with the same format as ours?"
If this is the case, he will mock the other party severely.
"No."
Meyer's tone was slightly solemn:
"Their show has no guests and no host...at least for the time being."
"There is only a simulated low-Earth orbit picture, and the orbital altitudes of the International Space Station and Space Junk 40396 are updated every few minutes, and...and these two numbers are approaching quickly!"
(End of chapter)