Flooding Halts NASA's Solar Data Processing Until 2025

A burst water pipe at Stanford's Joint Science Operations Center caused severe damage to servers, delaying critical solar observation data during the Sun's most active phase.

• A four-inch cooling water pipe burst at Stanford's Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) on November 26, flooding the server room and causing extensive damage.
• The facility processes data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), which study solar activity and its effects on Earth.
• While the spacecraft continue to collect data, the processing and availability of new information have been halted until repairs are completed, which is not expected before 2025.
• Data collected prior to the incident remains intact, but real-time solar monitoring and archived data access are currently unavailable.
• The outage occurs during the Sun's solar maximum, a period of heightened activity that can impact Earth's space weather and infrastructure.

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