Remember the electromagnetic pulse or "pinch," featured in "Ocean's 11?" Well imagine that level of disruption and apply it to the entire planet. That's the threat solar storms pose to our increasingly digital world.

After one aborted countdown, a privately developed rocket that could take on many of the jobs now done by NASA's space shuttles reached orbit successfully on its first test flight Friday.

The launch marked a significant advance for California-based SpaceX's eight-year-old space program.