Why space weather matters on Earth, and the team trying to protect us

And the impacts of space weather are not just a consideration for people on Earth.

In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first British person to travel into space on an eight-day mission to the Mir Space Station.

She was taught where to shelter if any space weather were to hit the space station.

Dr Sharman said during the mission she was affected by radiation from outside the solar system, called galactic cosmic rays.

“They come through the materials that spacecraft are made of,” said Sharman.

“They come through astronauts’ skin, and they’re what we notice as astronauts because quite often we see little bright flashes of light on our retinas, as those particles come through the spacecraft, through our skin, through our eyes, and affect our vision in that way.

“The higher up you are as well, of course, the further away from the Earth’s magnetic field, the more likely you are to not be protected by the Earth’s magnetic field.

“So in low Earth orbit, by and large, we’re fairly well protected. This is why, when astronauts go to the Moon, or possibly to Mars in the future, we really need to consider how we can protect them much better from radiation.”