Think of Space WX – available through iTunes now – as Patrick Moore’s head on Siân Lloyd’s body. It is the first real-time weather app that tracks the weather in space, predicting severe ‘near-earth’ events such as solar flares (high-energy particles from the sun). Of course, if you’re standing on the ground, you wouldn’t ‘feel’ the odd solar event. But exposure to such events whilst in a plane increases the risk of an unwanted dose of radiation – rather worrying if you’re a frequent flyer…
The risk is especially high when flying a polar route – Chicago to Hong Kong, for instance. You may not realise it, but your airline will check the weather in space before take-off and, if necessary, re-route the flight around the pole to minimise exposure (burning up $10,000 worth of extra fuel in the process).
The Space WX app was designed by academics – and it shows. It’s incredibly complex, but fascinating nevertheless. And for those of you who are frequent flyers, it could be well worth mastering the art of interpreting solar winds: you’ll get an early steer on whether your flight is going to take a detour (and land a lot later than you thought)…
£1.19 | spacewx.com | Out now
