Chapter 1268 The much-anticipated countdown

Contrary to most people's expectations, the China Space Agency's previous statement that solar storms may affect the safety of the space station actually aroused global public attention and concern about this matter in the following two months.

Although in reality, the frequency of solar activity outbursts is far more frequent than most people imagine, objectively speaking, the intensity of this wave in the fall of 2006 was indeed at a level never seen since humans entered the space age.

On the other hand, people also tend to exaggerate threats that they have never seen or experienced.

This tendency not only exists among the spectators, but also greatly affects the judgment of decision makers.

For example, the so-called "Y2K virus" that caused a lot of controversy in the early years even caused many space launch plans to be advanced or postponed, simply because of concerns about possible computer time errors in cross-year missions.

Therefore, under the influence of public opinion and public attention, in order to be safe, some communication, remote sensing or television satellites that provide services to the public issued advance notices, announcing that they might suspend services or reduce service quality during the few days of strongest solar activity in early September.

Naturally, this reaction in turn reinforces concerns at the societal level.

The threats faced by the International Space Station are also mentioned from time to time as an added bonus.

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 get an expert to come out and dispel the rumors, then as the saying goes, "only things that are officially denied are credible", it will only confirm the concerns of the onlookers.

However, Americans are experts at manipulating the media.

Even in such a headwind situation, we still found a strategy to break the deadlock——

To reduce unnecessary concerns about this solar storm, NASA News Center will launch a three-part interview live show "Exploring the Storm" through DirecTV, a satellite TV company under Fox, starting from September 9st to popularize space-related knowledge to the audience.

Of course, common sense is only a superficial reason. The key is that the three days from September 9 to 1 are the most violent phase of the solar storm, and this interview program can directly prove to the outside world that the impact of solar activity on satellite work is far less terrible than what other media have exaggerated...

……

September 9, 1: p.m. Eastern Time.

Fox News Live.

After the initial run-in phase, the first episode of "Exploring the Storm" has gradually entered its climax phase.

"Dear viewers, before this episode started, we have already opened the message window via the Internet and telephone. Now, please ask the director to randomly select a few questions with high approval ratings for our guests to answer."

The host, Ms. Isabel Carano, kept a sweet smile on her face and followed the steps she had rehearsed many times beforehand, flipping through the list of questions she had prepared under the table:

As for audience questions, of course it's just a gimmick to increase interaction and attention.

How is it possible to allow viewers with unknown backgrounds to access the live broadcast?

Asking random questions is secondary. What if you happen to encounter someone who doesn't care about his life and makes up something like a terrorist attack preview? That would definitely become a live broadcast accident.

"The first question is from the message board screening of our official website, which is also the most frequently asked question in the background..."

Since the program schedule was quite tight, the host just kept the audience in suspense for a while before continuing:

"It is said that the intensity of this solar storm is unprecedented in the past 150 years. Will it affect the normal life of ordinary people on the surface?"

Then he looked at John Yambrick on the other side of the studio:

"Mr. Supervisor, I wonder if you could satisfy the audience's curiosity?"

As one of the most popular hosts on the channel, Carano's appearance can only be considered average, but her voice has a unique ups and downs that can easily grab people's attention.

"of course can."

Yambrick straightened up slightly and nodded towards the camera:

"However, I first need to correct a small detail in the question. So far, there is no evidence to show that the intensity of this solar activity exceeds that of the previous cycles..."

This answer was of course already arranged, but Carano still showed great professionalism, frowning slightly, as if he had never expected to hear such an answer:

"But, both the Chinese Space Agency and the European Space Agency have previously provided analysis conclusions on this solar storm..."

The rhetorical question stopped halfway through, as if someone had just realized they had said something wrong halfway through.

After a short pause, he continued to ask:

"Could it be that the data they provided...or the analysis conclusions are all wrong?"

The smooth operation showed no trace of acting at all. Not to mention the audience in front of the TV, even the program director who knew the inside story felt that it "didn't look like acting."

Yambrick laughed heartily:

"Hahaha... The data they provided is certainly correct, and the analysis conclusions cannot be said to be problematic, but based on past experience, the prediction results of solar storms by existing observation methods are always seriously overestimated, and the extent of the overestimation is almost irregular."

"Take the solar radio flux event in October 2003 as an example. At that time, the global satellite positioning signal was unlocked to a certain extent due to solar activity. However, the actual minimum flux value affected by the solar radio noise storm was not the originally estimated 10 S.FU, but only 40000-4000 S.FU. The average impact was less than one-fifth of the estimated value..."

"and many more……"

Karano interrupted him with a flustered look on his face, as if the situation was completely out of his control:

"How come I've never heard of this happening in 2003?"

"I mean... if even the GPS loses lock, the impact should be very serious, right? For example, an airplane or a ship..."

Yambrick waved his hand:

"The traffic impact of less than 10000 S.FU is not enough to have a fatal impact on data transmission. Although solar activity is a long-period event, the actual outbreak is enough to affect the area around the earth for a very short time..."

"It's the same event we just talked about. It started at 2003:10 UTC on October 28, 10. But the first eight minutes were just low-intensity M-class explosions. It wasn't until 51:8 that it turned into X-class and began to affect the operation of some satellites. By 11:02, the impact had completely stopped. Even over the South Pacific, which was the most severely affected, it only lasted for four minutes. In other areas, it was generally within 11 seconds. Most people had no way of noticing it..."

"..."

Only after finishing this paragraph did Carano's expression recover, but he still patted his chest with some lingering emotion, and clearly let out a long sigh of relief:

"In other words, this time there won't actually be any impact?"

According to the plan, this round of questions and answers has come to an end, and the guests only need to give a definite conclusion.

However, Yambrick suddenly changed the subject and shook his head in a very serious manner;

"of course not!"

???

Carano, who was caught off guard, felt his heart suddenly shrink and he almost couldn't help but lower his head to look at the script.

How come this is completely different from what we agreed upon before?

Cold sweat started flowing down.

Carano reached out and gently lifted her long brown hair that covered half of her face, but she was actually preparing to turn on the switch of the live earphone monitor to receive instructions from the backstage.

But the program director backstage was also 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 truly live broadcast.

If something really goes wrong, no one can save it.

Fortunately, this heart-wrenching scene 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 state and showed a cynical smile:

"When a solar storm hits 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, allowing auroras to be observed in lower latitudes..."

"So, TV viewers, 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 about by this solar cycle. Especially for those living in mid- and high-latitude areas, as long as you look up at the night sky, you will most likely be able to see the gorgeous colors..."

Carano, whose heart was about to burst out of his throat, breathed a sigh of relief and quickly improvised to make up for it:

"After today's program, our news channel will also launch a photography collection activity also called 'Exploring the Storm'. We welcome the active participation of all viewers..."

……

"call……"

Director Griffin, who was far away at NASA headquarters, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this scene. Then he smiled helplessly and said to himself:

"I never realized before that this old guy with a serious face actually has a sense of humor..."

Then he picked up the remote control and turned off the TV.

There’s still about an hour left in this episode, but it doesn’t matter anymore.

The content just now, coupled with the steady output of satellite TV channels, was enough to divert everyone's attention.

"All we have to do now is ..."

Griffin reached for the phone on the table.

"Ring ring ring——"

And just at this moment, the phone rang.

After his hands paused for a moment, he picked up the receiver again:

"My name is Michael Griffin."

"Director!"

Assistant Meyer's voice came from the other end of the phone:

"The Chinese... also held a live TV broadcast."

"Ok?"

Griffin was stunned for about half a second before he reacted and laughed contemptuously:

"Why, is it also a talk show in the same format as ours?"

If that was the case, he would have to taunt the other party severely.

"Do not."

Meyer's tone was a little serious:

"There will be no guests or hosts on their show...at least for now."

"There is only a simulated low-Earth orbit picture, and the orbital heights of the International Space Station and space junk No. 40396 are updated every few minutes. And...and these two numbers are approaching each other quickly!"