One of the largest solar flares ever recorded is caught
in this photo, taken by the SOHO sattelite.
Sunspot 486 is the culprit.

Just as the most powerful space storm in 30 years is striking Earth, a congressional subcommittee will hear testimony today from scientists who would secure the future of space weather forecasting.

Congress has plans to ax the whole program.

On the chopping block is the Space Environment Center (SEC) in Boulder, Colorado, which predicted the major space storm that arrived Wednesday and continues to pummel the planet. In an unprecedented scenario, a second powerful storm left the Sun Wednesday afternoon and is en route.

The Senate has proposed eliminating the SEC's funding from the 2004 federal budget. Language in the House's bill would reduce the SEC's $8.3 million budget sharply. Either budget change would cripple the ability to forecast storms, expert say. And without the advance warning, satellites in space and power grids on Earth are much more vulnerable to serious damage.

The hearing was planned well before the first historically remarkable space storm left the Sun on Tuesday and generated headlines around the world. The storm will still be underway when the hearing begins at 10 a.m. EST.

The initial blast of solar material temporarily disabled one satellite, caused radio blackouts that affected airline traffic, and forced power grid managers to take safety precautions by reducing transmissions. It would have been worse, said Joe Kunches, the SEC's lead forecaster, if not for the ability to predict the storm's timing and intensity. Other experts agree.

Preparation is key

SEC predictions are much like standard weather forecasts, drawing data from multiple sources and going out to many customers, including NASA, the Department of Defense, airlines and utility companies.

The forecasts allow satellite operators to put some craft to sleep and reduce the operations of others, Kunches said in a telephone interview during the height of the storm Wednesday. Power grid operators have learned how to thwart problems, in part by reducing the amount of power trading and line switching they do as a storm arrives. A solar storm in 1989 tripped a power grid in Canada, and engineers have learned much from that experience.

"They fly by seat-of-the-pants and make adjustments to the grids," Kunches said. "It's something people have gotten savvy at."

And its something they can do only because they know what's coming, several scientists agree.

Message to Congress

Should the current tempest send a message to Congress?

"I sure hope so," Kunches said. "If this one doesn't, I don't know what we have to do."

Kunches called this week's first storm the strongest he's seen in 30 years. Others have said it is among the four most powerful in recorded history.

Leon Golub is a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and author of "Nearest Star: The Surprising Science Of Our Sun." Golub said a lot of the SEC's customers -- from NASA to private satellite and power grid operators -- are worried about losing the forecasts.

"Our highly technological society is very vulnerable to space weather effects," Golub told SPACE.com. "And without these alerts and warnings, they can suffer huge disruptions in service and economic losses." 

Added in 2003