Five spacecraft, one forecast: Japan learns to predict the Sun's dangerous mood swings

When the Sun flings charged particles at Earth, astronauts can be exposed to radiation and satellites can fail — and until now, predicting exactly when a burst would arrive depended on hand-tuned guesswork. Fujitsu, Nagoya University, JAMSTEC and NICT have built the first system that uses observations from five spacecraft to set the parameters of those simulations automatically, objectively and instantly, sharpening the forecasts. Published in Scientific Reports, the work is aimed squarely at safety: fewer satellite failures, less radiation risk for crews, and one day, protection for people working around the Moon.

SDG 9 · Industry, innovation and infrastructure — Mechanism: tech innovation