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NASA readies probe to touch the sun with 'cutting-edge heat shield'
www.cnet.com ^ | July 5, 2018 10:04 PM PDT | by Jackson Ryan

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.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Education; Science; UFO's
KEYWORDS: corona; elonmusk; falcon9; falconheavy; nasa; spacex
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To: Red Badger

Great ball of fire!


21 posted on 07/06/2018 2:39:47 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie ("The MSM is the enemy of the American people"...Democrat Pat Caddell)
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To: Red Badger

Please don’t send me the bill for the air conditioning


22 posted on 07/06/2018 2:43:50 PM PDT by Oscar in Batangas (12:01 PM 1/20/2017...The end of an error.)
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To: PrairieLady2

They’d go at night :D


23 posted on 07/06/2018 2:59:08 PM PDT by halfright (Deplorable in Florida...You can give peace a chance.... I'll cover you.)
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To: Red Badger

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....


Well, which is it, touch the Sun or not?

Either way, glad I’m not going.


24 posted on 07/06/2018 3:03:44 PM PDT by Ancesthntr ("The right to buy weapons is the right to be free." A. E. van Vogt)
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To: Kickass Conservative
thank you...

25 posted on 07/06/2018 3:08:00 PM PDT by Chode ( WeÂ’re America, Bitch!)
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To: L,TOWM
Heat shield...pffft. They just need to plan it so they go at night...

Izzat you Hank Johnson?
26 posted on 07/06/2018 3:23:21 PM PDT by Old Yeller (Auto-correct has become my worst enema.)
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To: Red Badger

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.


27 posted on 07/06/2018 3:35:19 PM PDT by ro_dreaming (Chesterton, 'Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It's been found hard and not tried')
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To: ro_dreaming

With this cutting edge heat shield we no longer have to worry about global warming.


28 posted on 07/06/2018 4:38:21 PM PDT by sportutegrl (Being offended is a choice.)
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To: Red Badger

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.


29 posted on 07/06/2018 5:21:34 PM PDT by MisterArtery
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To: MisterArtery

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!


30 posted on 07/06/2018 5:33:26 PM PDT by LYDIAONTARIO
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To: Red Badger

Why not try some AC? Window unit.


31 posted on 07/06/2018 5:36:19 PM PDT by Libloather (Trivial Pursuit question - name the first female to lose TWO presidential elections!)
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To: ro_dreaming

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.


32 posted on 07/07/2018 3:03:27 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now it is your turn ...)
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To: Red Badger

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


33 posted on 07/07/2018 4:09:44 AM PDT by elbook
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To: elbook

They’ll use a wire . . .


34 posted on 07/12/2018 12:11:43 PM PDT by conservatism_IS_compassion (Journalism promotes itself - and promotes big government - by speaking ill of society.)
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