thank you...
Posted on 07/06/2018 1:48:51 PM PDT by Red Badger
For the first time in human history, we are going to "touch the sun".
As NASA prepares for an Aug. 4 launch, it has unveiled a "cutting-edge heat shield", installed on June 27, that will keep the spacecraft from being burnt to a crisp.
The probe's mission will take it within 4 million miles of the sun, a region of space never before visited by a human-made spacecraft. For comparison's sake, the closest that Mercury ever gets to the sun is approximately 29 million miles. Getting that close to what is, essentially, a giant ball of fire requires some significant enhancements.
That's where the Thermal Protection System comes in.
The heat shield is a rounded "carbon-carbon composite sandwiching a lightweight carbon foam core." It is also sprayed with "a specially formulated white coating to reflect as much of the Sun's energy away from the spacecraft as possible."
The shield will prevent the core of the spacecraft from being exposed to temperatures reaching nearly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (or or roughly 1,370 degrees Celsius). Provided the shield does its job, NASA believes the instruments "will be kept at a relatively comfortable temperature of about 85 degrees Fahrenheit."
So in front of the shield: Fiery hellscape.
Behind the shield: Serene summer afternoon.
This is the first time in months that the Thermal Protection System has been attached to the probe after testing back in fall 2017. If all goes well and NASA launch in August, Parker will face the unfathomable heat of our solar system's star in an effort to sample the corona and teach us more about "the inner workings" of our sun.
Great ball of fire!
Please don’t send me the bill for the air conditioning
They’d go at night :D
1. For the first time in human history, we are going to “touch the sun”.
2. The probe’s mission will take it within 4 million miles of the sun....
Either way, glad I’m not going.
thank you...
Getting that close to what is, essentially, a giant ball of fire requires some significant enhancements.
Huh, I wonder if they realize that climate change is out of mankind’s control, that is is, essentially, controlled by a giant ball of fire.
With this cutting edge heat shield we no longer have to worry about global warming.
I worked for a NASA contractor during the Apollo program. I, at a young age, was amazed and apalled by the ignorance of the government employees in charge.
My late uncle worked for MITRE Corp in those days. He said NASA had some smart guys but nobody wanted to share info so they messed up some things! Big egos!
Why not try some AC? Window unit.
Getting that close to what is, essentially, a giant ball of super heated plasma - there is no ‘fire’ on the sun. Saying there is fire on the sun is like saying that the Antarctic is covered with water.
meaning it will last a whole half second before being incinerated.
even so they might learn that the sun is mighty hot.
will be interesting to see how they transmit anything through the solar interference
They’ll use a wire . . .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.