DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - According to the National Oceanice Atmospheric Administration, the launch of SWFO-L1 was successful and the four month 1-million mile journey towards the sun has begun.
SWFO-L1's role is similar to that of a normal weather satellite, but instead of looking back at Earth, it's looking at the sun.
SWFO-L1 will help provide the sun's extreme events such as a solar storm in order to help the U.S. government protect it's critical infrastructure from these events.
Instrastructure like power grids, GPS, and communications are at risk whenever solar storms occur. In fact, in 2024 a solar flar knocked out GPS equiment on many farms causing a disruption in planting in March.
With the help of the SWFO-L1, space weather forecasts and alerts will be provided, keeping the government ahead of the game when it comes to these events.
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