1. Space weather

2. What is the sun made of Most of the gas — about 72 percent — is hydrogen. Nuclear fusion converts hydrogen into other elements. The sun is also composed of about 26 percent helium and trace amounts of other elements — oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, magnesium, iron and silicon.

3. What are the effects of the Sun for us on Earth? Sun's Effect on Earth Energy from the Sun is very important to the Earth. The Sun warms our planet, heating the surface, the oceans and the atmosphere. This energy to the atmosphere is one of the primary drivers our weather. Our climate is also strongly affected by the amount of solar radiation received at Earth. That amount changes based on the Earth’s albedo, that is how much radiation is reflected back from the Earth’s surface and clouds

4. What is space weather? Space weather refers to the environmental conditions in Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere due to the Sun and the solar wind that can influence the functioning and reliability of spaceborne and ground-based systems and services or endanger property or human health.

5. How does space weather affect astronauts and their lives, especially those aboard the ISS? During the Apollo program, the astronauts walking on the surface of the Moon were nearly hit by a solar storm on several occasions. A major flare happened between the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 moonwalks. If any of the largest flares had happened during the walks, the astronauts could have been killed on the spot. Light coming from the Sun takes just over 8 minutes to reach us. Some very energetic particles from solar flares travel at a large fraction of the speed of light. They reach us very quickly (anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours after the flare). These high-energy particles present the greatest danger to astronauts.