{"id":355413,"date":"2026-03-30T15:57:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T15:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355413\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T15:57:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T15:57:12","slug":"powerful-x-class-solar-flare-triggers-radio-blackout-ahead-of-artemis-2-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/355413\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerful X-class solar flare triggers radio blackout ahead of Artemis 2 launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun unleashed a powerful X1.4 solar flare in the early hours today (March 30), triggering radio blackouts on Earth and raising potential concerns for NASA’s Artemis 2 mission preparations.<\/p>\n

The flare peaked at 11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT) according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center<\/a>. It caused widespread degradation of high-frequency (HF) radio signals across the sunlit side of Earth<\/a> at the time of the eruption, affecting southeast Asia and Australia.<\/p>\n

The eruption came from active region 4405, a magnetically complex sunspot group now rotating further into Earth’s view \u2014 meaning any continued activity could have more direct impacts on Earth<\/a> and Artemis 2<\/a> preparations in the coming days. The flare also launched a coronal mass ejection (CME<\/a>) with a possible Earth-directed component.<\/p>\n

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X-flare eruption (left) and on the right is the billowing CME released during the eruption. (Image credit: Left: GOES SUVI satellite, right: SOHO Lasco C2 imagery)<\/p>\n

NASA is preparing to launch Artemis 2, its first astronaut mission to the moon since 1972, with liftoff set for no earlier than April 1<\/a>, at 6:24 p.m. EDT (2224 GMT). The mission will send four astronauts on a 10-day journey around the moon, but heightened solar activity could complicate preparations if conditions intensify.<\/p>\n

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Read more: Could bad space weather endanger the Artemis 2 moon astronauts?<\/a><\/p>\n

“NASA is paying attention regarding the upcoming Artemis 2 launch,” solar physicist Tamitha Skov told Space.com in a reply to a comment on X.<\/a> “We need to pay attention to radio bursts now. Those can really impact HF\/VHF as well as satellite radio communications during critical launch operations and early orbit maneuvers!” Skov continued.<\/p>\n

You can keep up to date with the latest Artemis 2 news with our Artemis 2 live blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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NASA’s M2M WSA-ENLIL+Cone model prediction for the CME released during the X1.4 flare. Note the speed of the CME! It’s a fast one! (Image credit: NASA)<\/p>\n

NASA officials aren’t the only ones paying close attention to the sun’s outbursts this week. Aurora chasers will also be getting excited about the prospect of a possible glancing blow from the speedy CME released during the eruption. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a moderate<\/a> (G2) geomagnetic storm watch for March 31, with minor (G1) storm conditions possible on March 30 and April 1.<\/p>\n

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NOAA’s X1.4 solar flare bulletin issued on March 29, 2026. (Image credit: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)<\/p>\n

If the CME delivers a glancing blow to Earth, it could trigger geomagnetic storm conditions and lead to auroras visible at lower latitudes than usual. If conditions align, auroras<\/a> could be visible as far south as New York, Wisconsin and Washington state under G2 conditions, according to NOAA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun unleashed a powerful X1.4 solar flare in the early hours today (March 30), triggering radio blackouts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-355413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}