Several NASA Spacecraft Track Energy Through Space

Several NASA Spacecraft Track Energy Through Space
Space weather may affect satellite performance.

small events unfolding over the course of a millisecond can result in energy flows that last up to half an hour and cover an area 10 times larger than Earth. "One of the unique features of our research field is that microscopic things can sometimes run the whole show," says David Sibeck, the project scientist for ARTEMIS and THEMIS at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
"The tiniest causes may have global consequences. That's not typical in terrestrial weather where you don't have to look at a tiny spot on a weather map to understand a whole hurricane."

Hasn't Sibeck heard of chaos theory and the butterfly effect? Small variations in initial conditions causing huge variations in final effects.