BOSTON: Researchers proposed a Storm Wall solar storm shield. Researchers estimate that a once-in-a-century solar superstorm could cause over $2.4 trillion in damage to the power grid alone.
Solar Storm that would use spacecraft to release ionizable gas into Earth’s magnetosphere before severe geomagnetic storms strike.
The concept was first described in Space Weather and led by Brian Walsh of Boston University.
The study said the system would use artificial mass-loading in Earth’s dayside magnetosphere to reduce the impact of incoming solar wind structures.
Researchers said model spacecraft at geosynchronous orbit could release materials such as barium-like gas, which sunlight would ionise into plasma.
The study said global magnetohydrodynamic simulations showed the intensity of a major geomagnetic storm could be reduced by 50 per cent or more.
Boston University said Walsh and researchers from the University of Michigan tested the concept in simulations and found it could cut the intensity of a major storm in half.
The May 2024 geomagnetic storm simulation used six spacecraft releasing gas for 14 hours. It said the full payload would exceed 436 tons in geosynchronous orbit.
Read: Earth Aphelion 2026 to Put Planet Farthest From Sun
The proposed shield aims to protect satellites, power grids, GPS, internet systems and communications from severe space weather.
The concept could also reduce auroral displays because auroras depend on charged particles and electrical currents in Earth’s upper atmosphere.
The authors described the proposal as a shift from predicting space weather to actively mitigating it, while noting that environmental and engineering effects remain uncertain.
