The SOHO satellite is situated 1,500,000 km from the Earth. It has a continuous view of the Sun. When instruments onboard SOHO record a strong solar flare or a coronal mass ejection, the spacecraft warns us before the harmful charged particles reach the Earth.
In the future space weather predictions will be as important for us as the weather report for today's farmer or even the lucky ones on a holiday.
SOHO and its future followers are reliable watchdogs warning us about sudden and harmful changes in space weather.
