Sun vs. Mission to Mars

Spacecraft (green trajectory) on their way from the Earth (blue orbit) to Mars (red orbit) risk being hit by energetic events from the Sun, such as X-rays, energetic protons (blue streaks), and material from Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) (red blobs). The spiral lines from the Sun represent the magnetic field lines frozen into the solar wind. Educational levels: Undergraduate lower division, Undergraduate upper division, Graduate or professional