Falcon 9 stage from 2015 predicted to hit the Moon in early March

projectpluto.com

29 points·mdelias··8 comments

I did some searching, as the article doesn't mention, it seems to be debris from the launch of DSCOVR

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/DSCOVR/in-depth/

A US weather satelite in L1

> DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) is an American space weather station that monitors changes in the solar wind, providing space weather alerts and forecasts for geomagnetic storms that could disrupt power grids, satellites, telecommunications, aviation and GPS.

> DSCOVR can warn forecasters 15 to 60 minutes before solar storms reach Earth.

How does one prepare these systems for a solar storm within 15-60 minutes?

Probably by making sure backups are ready to go and having people expecting it in case something does break? So if something goes wrong they're aware that a solar storm might've caused it rather than a localized issue.

Land planes, stop (or don't start) surgeries, send first responder instructions, call loved ones

Launch the missiles.

I think you get a couple of days' advance notice, but don't know exactly when it will arrive until you get word from DSCOVR. Satellites can turn off radio receivers, astronauts can get in their shielded compartment. Maybe some power systems disconnect from the grid.

Seems wild that it would take this long.

Hopefully good data is recorded from this event

Reply on news.ycombinator.com