Helios Protocol

The Helios Protocol is an internationally recognized emergency procedure for potentially harmful solar events such as a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) or major solar flares. Though most spacecraft and space stations are shielded against certain levels of cosmic background radiation and solar radiation, these events can cause dramatic increases in harmful radiation that can damage sensitive electronics and humans alike. The Most Mira Council helped to develop a standardized emergency procedure to minimize radiation exposure during these episodes.
In the event of a damaging solar event, astronavigational systems and all interplanetary communications bands in the affected region will broadcast a warning prefaced with the code phrase HELIOS BLACK, followed by details on the triggering event. All civilian and peacetime military ships, stations, and satellites that receive a HELIOS BLACK warning are obliged to rebroadcast the message to ensure maximum transmission coverage. Ships will internally initiate Helios Protocol, which may vary by vessel and organization, but generally involve the following steps:

1. A Helios Protocol warning is broadcast on internal communications systems.
2. If possible in the given time, the ship will attempt to navigate behind a shielding body such as an asteroid, moon, or planet. Smaller or less protected ships may also attempt to position themselves behind larger ships or stations relative to the Sun.
3. The ship will immediately orient itself with the most shielded section (usually the fore section on combat ships or aft sections of civilian fusion torch ships) facing the Sun.
4. Personnel will be directed to seek shelter within interior sections of the ship in the opposite direction of the Sun. The establishment of predesignated shelter compartments is encouraged, especially within engineering or medical compartments that have extra radiation shielding.

Helios Protocol will remain in place until an all-clear is announced via solar monitoring stations broadcasting a message coded as HELIOS WHITE. This is usually initiated 30 minutes after the solar activity has ceased and will include follow-on details about the solar event. A propagation value will be given which will tell the ship when the HELIOS WHITE message goes into effect for their region of space (in case the HELIOS WHITE message is received before the solar event has reached the recipient. At that point, crews will assess any electronic damage and medical personnel will assess crew health and monitor radiation dosage.
A complication to the Helios Protocol is the debate over how the situation should be handled during armed conflict. International agreements under the Most Mira Council have imposed that ships are to immediately cease hostilities upon receipt of a HELIOS BLACK message so that all crews can take shelter. In practice, Helios Black messages during actual combat usually result in a game of chicken to see which side will wait the longest before breaking off to seek shelter, followed by a race to resume fighting once the danger has passed, even if HELIOS WHITE hasn’t been declared.
The Helios Protocol has several additional brevity codes for other events:

• HELIOS GRAY: A solar event has been detected but will not likely affect this region of space. Ships should take necessary precautions and avoid unnecessary EVA.
• HELIOS YELLOW: Widespread solar activity detected as a possible precursor to a significant solar event. Ships should take caution and avoid unnecessary EVA.
• HELIOS RED: A serious solar event is detected to be likely and imminent. Ships should take precautionary measures and prepare for a HELIOS BLACK event within 24 hours or less.
• HELIOS COSMIC: A significant extrasolar radiological event such as a Gamma Ray Burst has been detected, posing a serious threat to the Solar System. Normal Helios Protocol is likely insufficient. All efforts should be made to seek occluding protection behind a planet or other substantial body. Survivors should be prepared for widespread devastation and an interruption in services. A cataclysmic loss of life across the affected region is probable.
• HELIOS FACTUM: A manmade event has triggered a significant release of radiation in space, either as a nuclear detonation or in the unlikely event human activity has interfered in solar processes. In a HELIOS FACTUM scenario, additional details will be provided as to the epicenter of the emission and falloff distance.

Due to the significance of Helios Protocol events, TASA has incorporated the HELIOS codes into their internal Incident Reporting Codewords.