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<img loading="lazy" src="http://media.voanews.com/images/480*480/Reut_solar_stormNASA_8mar12-resizedpx480q100dpi96shp8.webp" width="250" alt="Massive Solar Storm Bears Down on Earth" />
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NASA handout image shows the Sun acquired by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. A strong geomagnetic storm is racing from the Sun toward Earth, and its expected arrival on Thursday could affect power grids, airplane routes and space-based satellite navigation systems, U.S. space weather experts, March 8, 2012. (Photo: NASA)
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Forecasters say the solar particles will strike the Earth at a speed of more than six-million kilometers an hour. The storm could disrupt radio communications, satellite networks, global positioning systems and electricity grids. A scientist for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says some airlines have begun canceling some flights as a precaution.


NASA says it does not believe the storm will affect the International Space Station or its six-member crew. 


The storm may also produce brilliant auroras, also known as the Northern and Southern Lights, which occur as the particles from the solar ejection mix with the Earth's magnetic fields.


Scientists say the storm is part of the sun's normal 11-year cycle, when activity on the surface rises to its peak level. A strong storm in 1989 knocked out the power grid in Quebec, leaving millions of residents without electricity






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