Rene-NASA-Mooned-America

Sunstroke / Chap. 15 p. 128
solar flares. The book, NOAA TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM ERL-22, was written by J.
A. McKinnon, a NOAA expert on solar flares. The book's subtitle is August 1972 Solar
Activity and Related Geophysical Effects , and specifically details the effects of an immense
series of solar flares that occurred from 8/2/72 through 8/11/72. These flares, the most
spectacular series of solar flares in the twentieth century, originated without warning from a
region of the Sun known as 331.
McKinnon begins his book with this statement, "In early August 1972, a series of solar
flares from one region on the sun's disk made national news. The geophysical effects that
followed reaffirmed to laymen and scientists alike that the sun can act as a formidable source
of radiation." 1 Wait a minute! Didn't the Russians try to tell NASA that in 1963
Mike Collins also told us that the flares were predictable in July of 1969. During the
years of the Apollo missions those long range (27-day) forecasts that NOAA provides,
mostly to communication and power companies, were about as accurate as a 27-day weather
forecast by NOAA. On July 19, 1972 the long range forecast read, "27 day forecast for 20
July to 16 August 1972: No significant increase in solar activity is expected." On August 2,
1972 it read, "Forecast for 03-09 August 1972: Solar activity is expected to remain at a low
to moderate level." 2
McKinnon, the government expert, writing some years after the Apollo 11, has this to
say about NOAA' predictions: "The activity from region 331 was not covered in any longrange
forecasts." 3 The words 'not covered' mean simply in plain English that the long range
forecasts completely failed to predict them.
The short-term forecast at 2200 hours on August 1, 1972 claimed the average probability
for the severe class X flare as 7 %. For a proton event it was 9 %. 4 Yet less than 4 hours
and 50 minutes later solar Region 331 produced its initial major flare. It was the first in a
series that culminated in a 5 day period producing the greatest solar activity recorded in this
century. And that, despite the fact that the Sun was near the minimum of its cycle. What
now can we make of Collins' statement that NASA had a way to protect the Apollo astronots
from solar flares when they were in space years before. Even NOAA's next day forecasts
made during the actual event were understated.
Speaking of solar flares in general, McKinnon says, "A probability of 10-20% should be
considered a low probability for class M events,..." 5 In plain English he is saying that even
at the bottom of the cycle, one flare in five is large enough to emit M (medium) strength X-
rays.
Mckinnon continues, "Probabilities of the order of 1% are considered low with respect
to class X flares." 6 X rated flares are the strongest. Proton events are also extremely
hazardous to anyone outside the Earth's Van Allen Belt. It seems that protons and X-rays
travel well under the speed of light. As far as warning goes, the X-rays begin to bombard
Earth within an hour of generation. Some of the more energetic protons can make the trip in
38 minutes. 7 This means an even shorter warning time.
Once in space, even if NOAA could issue an early warning about major solar activity,
what could the astro-nots do about it Get into their fabric suits and hide behind the tissue-
NASA MOONED AMERICA! / Rene