SOHO

<p><em>[3, 2, 1, ignition, and liftoff of SOHO and the Atlas vehicle on an international mission of solar physics.]</em></p> <p>Generally speaking, staring at the Sun non-stop for decades is a bad idea. But a spacecraft launched 30 years ago this week has done just that. It&#8217;s told us about the Sun&#8217;s interior, its surface, and its extended outer atmosphere. That&#8217;s helped scientists develop better forecasts of space weather &#8211; interactions between Sun and Earth that can have a big effect on our technology.</p> <p>The craft is called SOHO &#8211; Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. It was launched into an orbit around a point in space where the gravity of Earth and the Sun are balanced. From there, its view of the Sun is never blocked.</p> <p>SOHO watches the Sun in many different ways. It keeps a close eye on the Sun&#8217;s magnetic field, which produces outbursts of energy and particles that can have an impact on Earth. That&#8217;s revealed shockwaves and &#8220...