This image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows an eruption of charged particles rising a distance several times Earth's diameter before falling back into the sun in 2018.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $7.5 million contract to the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, to design, build and test an ion sensor for the Space Weather Follow-On Lagrange-1 mission.

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Debra Werner is a correspondent for SpaceNews based in San Francisco. Debra earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Journalism from Northwestern University. She is a recipient...