There's some weather on the way (it's not a permalink, but it does have as the top story right now this morning's mass ejection from the corona, and it's a good general link for space weather). Someone asked me in email if this will endanger the astronauts aboard Space Station Albatross.

No, not really--they're protected for the most part by the geomagnetic field. If they were going to or from the moon, or somewhere else beyond earth, they'd be in trouble though, if they didn't have adequate shielding.

In any event, those folks in the northern (and southern) latitudes should be seeing some spectacular aurora borealis and australis over the next night or two.

[3 PM update]

Here's another story, and it answers the above question:

Such solar storms have the potential for knocking out communications and power grids on Earth, and can be harmful to orbiting satellites and astronauts.

The International Space Station's current resident crew -- commander Michael Foale and flight engineer Alexander Kaleri -- will protect themselves by moving to a portion of the outpost that provides the most shielding from radiation.

Thanks for answering the questions, though I wonder just how much radiation shielding is available on the ISS?

I have read that one large concern for a manned Mars mission is the risk of a large solar flare during transit vs. the weight of adequate shielding. Somehow I would expect NASA to minimize the risk (and the shielding.)