The sun unleashed a powerful X1.4 solar flare in the early hours today (March 30), triggering radio blackouts on Earth and raising potential concerns for NASA's Artemis 2 mission preparations. The flare peaked at 11:19 p.m. EDT (0319 GMT) according to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center . It caused widespread degradation of high-frequency (HF) radio signals across the sunlit side of Earth at the time of the eruption, affecting southeast Asia and Australia. The eruption came from active region 4405, a magnetically complex sunspot group now rotating further into Earth's view — meaning any continued activity could have more direct impacts on Earth and Artemis 2 preparations in the coming days. The flare also launched a coronal mass ejection ( CME ) with a possible Earth-directed component. X-flare eruption (left) and on the right is the billowing CME released during the eruption.…