NASA is planning to send a probe to get as close to the sun it could get without burning up breaking records.
The Solar Probe Plus is designed to withstand up to 1,400 degrees Celsius . Hot enough to melt gold which melts at 1,064 degrees Celsius according to google which knows everything is never, ever wrong.
Which is pretty cool if you ask me. The other two probes from the past didn’t even come anywhere this close.
”In 1974, Helios 1 passed within 45 million kilometres of the sun's surface and Helios 2 within 43.4 million kilometres.”
The Solar Probe Plus will be working 6.4 million kilometers from the sun. That could be in range of Coronal Steeamers which shoot out millions of kilometers from the sun. Not to mention radiation levels more extreme than imaginable.
It has to fly with the heat shield facing the sun at all times as it orbits the sun. Even a small miscalculation could cause the heat to melt the analyzing components.
Who is the mathematical genius that come up with these calculations? If the calculator on my phone can’t figure it out I don’t need to, glad someone else is doing it.
Scientists sound pretty excited about the mission tons of data that’s all going to say “ The Sun is F’n Hot and Big, please stand back”. As well as lots of useful information I’m sure to help us predict or defend against the big flare will come and wipe out all electronics on earth.
Check out the 3 minute clip.
This could be another step to finding a way to harness even more energy from it and further humans endeavour to travel even further through space.
Credits and Sources
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/10060/will-or-could-solar-probe-plus-do-science-at-venus
https://directory.eoportal.org/web/eoportal/satellite-missions/s/spp
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/technology/nasa-mission-touch-sun-solar-probe-1.4137914
EDITED TITLE to because they literally changed the name of the probe since posting.
Parker is the first scientist in history to have a probe named after them while still alive. He is 90 years old and is highly respected for research in the sun.
Cool stuff! Any idea what the heat shield is made of?
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The closest I could find was it's made of some sort of 4.5 inches thick carbon composite but the details weren't in the articles a I read.
Thanks for reading.
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Thanks for posting!
Curiosity got the best of me. I did a cursory search and I think you're right. A carbon composite is most likely.
A Carbon-Steel combination has a melting point of 1425 - 1540 Celsius.
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/melting-temperature-metals-d_860.html
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Cool find man. I always wonder how they can make things withstand something so hot without melting the equipment used to make it. Especially this, like does this mean something can withstand even more heat? And then what used to make that. Crazy. Haha
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Oh, man this is so cool =D
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A lot of data will be collected and as you said, understanding the mechanism beyond the flares is one of the key goals of this mission. At least for a non specialist like me, that sounds the most interesting part :)
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Very interesting, thanks for sharing.
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Great job with this post @solarguy. This probe is getting shockingly close to the sun. Will be interesting to see what it uncovers.
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Thanks man. Its been a while since i wrote a science post but the article really got me intrigued.
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AWESOMENESS !!! 🌞🌞🌞
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Very cool. I'm surprised Space-X/Tesla hasn't beat them to it! Free Energy For ALL!
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I'm sure they wish that too.
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It's deeply unnerving to read that we can call 6,4 million kilometers close. I get that it is extremely close compared to earlier attempts but i can barely immagine how far that is, just amazing.
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