Project solar exploration spacecraft

The John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) plans to launch a spacecraft closer to the sun than any previous probe - and what it finds can revolutionize what we know. about the sun along with the solar wind - the factor that affects everything in the solar system.

NASA put the issue with APL to develop an ambitious Solar Probe project, which will study the charged molecular currents that the sun emits into space from an advantage point inside the halo - the atmosphere the outer sphere of the sun - where the process of heating the halo and producing the solar wind. At the closest Solar Probe approach would pass through the sun at a rate of 125 miles per hour, protected by a heat-resistant casing of carbon compounds withstands temperatures up to 1426 ^° C and withstands radioactive currents and energy dust is the level that previous spacecraft never experienced.

Illustrations by NASA's Solar Probe spacecraft make a desperate trip to the sun, where it will study the forces that make up the solar wind.John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory at Laurel, Maryland will design and build this spacecraft according to the launch schedule in 2015. The preliminary design includes solar panels about 2 meters in diameter, about as thick as 15cm carbon foam over the body of the spacecraft.Two sets of solar collectors will fold or open when the spacecraft is headed or away from the sun in circles around the inner part of the solar system, to make sure the plates hold the temperature. and appropriate energy levels.(Photo: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory)

Experts in the US and abroad have embraced the idea of ​​this mission for more than 30 years, and have encountered technical difficulties and budget constraints. But in February, a team of scientists led by APL completed the engineering section of Solar Probe and NASA's task design research, detailing how this robot mission may succeed. The team used APL's 2005 work as a boundary, but later changed the idea significantly to meet the cost and technical challenges offered by NASA.

According to Andrew Dantzler, Solar Probe project manager at APL, 'We know we're on the right track. Currently we have put the pieces together into an innovative product, technology at hand, possible ideas and complete tasks can be done in about 750 million dollars, or similar. the cost of a medium-sized planetary mission. NASA decided this time was appropriate. '

APL will design and build the spacecraft on a scheduled launch in 2015. The contract-based spacecraft, which uses solar energy, will weigh about 453kg, the preliminary design includes solar-powered solar panels. about 2m, about 15cm thick, covered with carbon foam on top of the hull. Two sets of solar collectors will fold or open when the spacecraft is headed or away from the sun in circles around the inner part of the solar system, to make sure the plates hold the temperature. and appropriate energy levels. At the closest distance to the sun, the ship must withstand a solar intensity 500 times higher than a spacecraft suffered when traveling around the earth.

Solar Probe will revolve around Venus 7 rounds in nearly 7 years to gradually shorten its orbit around the sun, about 6.6 million kilometers from the sun, in orbit Mercury and nearly 8 times closer any previous spacecraft.

Solar Probe will use a combination of on-site and remote measurements to complete a top scientific task: determining the structure and dynamics of magnetic fields at the source point of the solar wind, tracking the flow of energy. the amount of heat radiating halo and accelerating solar wind, determining which mechanism accelerates and transports electric molecules, examines dust plasma near the sun, its effect on solar wind and molecular formation electricity. Details will be presented in the study of Solar Probe Science and Technology Definition Team that NASA will announce in the year. NASA will also publish a separate Announcement of Opportunity for the scientific payload of the spacecraft.

According to Dr. Robert Decker, Solar Probe project scientist at APL, 'Solar Probe is a true expedition mission. For example, this spacecraft will reach the sun close enough to monitor the solar wind accelerating from below the negative to the supersonic, and it will fly over the source that produces the highest energy solar molecules. With all of the discovery missions, Solar Probe will probably ask more questions than answers. '

APL's experience in the development of spacecraft studying earth-sun relations - or doing tasks near the sun - including ACE, recently marked the 10th year of sample collection. The electric molecule between the earth and the sun, TIMED, is currently investigating the effect of the sun on the top of the earth's atmosphere, the STEREO twin-explorer ship, while taking the first three-dimensional images of the the sun is named the auroral eruption, and the Radiation Belt Storm Probes examines areas where the electric molecule is retained by the earth's magnetic field.

Solar Probe will be reinforced with heat-resistant technology developed for APL's MESSENGER spacecraft, the spacecraft completes its first rotation around Mercury in January and will begin to orbit around the planet. This is in 2011. The idea of ​​Solar Probe's solar shield is partly influenced by the solar shield design of MESSENGER.