Prayers, sacrifices, sunbathing - one might say that people have been worshiping the sun since time immemorial. And this is not surprising. It is only 150 million kilometers away - close enough for its light, warmth and energy to support the entire human race. But despite the fact that our home star has been studied with telescopes for a long time, we do not know much about it. That's why NASA recently announced plans to launch a revolutionary probe in 2018 to literally touch the luminary. The mission originally named Solar Probe Plus has now changed its name to Parker Solar Probe. The probe was renamed in honor of the physicist Eugene Parker, who carried out important work on the solar wind - the flow of charged particles leaving the sun.
Sun exploration missions abounded. In 1976, the Helios-2 spacecraft approached a zone 43 million kilometers from the sun's atmosphere. The $ 1.5 billion Parker probe will come as much as 6 million kilometers to the sun's surface - nine times closer than any spacecraft before it. This will open up a new era for us to understand the sun, because sensors will be able to register and analyze the phenomena that occur on the sun.
While the flying altitude of the mission may seem safe - after all, it is millions of kilometers - the enormous energy of the sun will mercilessly bombard the valuable cargo of the probe. The 11.5 cm thick carbon composite casing, similar to that of modern Formula 1 cars, protects sensitive equipment. This is necessary because temperatures will rise to 1400 degrees and above.
At such high temperatures, the solar panels powering the spacecraft will be removed. This maneuver will keep tools and power supplies close to room temperature in the shade of the carbon composite shields. In addition, the spacecraft will experience radiation 475 times more intense than in Earth's orbit.
Any errors in the planned trajectories of the spacecraft will cause the probe to plunge deeper into the Sun's atmosphere, where several million degrees will be waiting for it. Of course, this will instantly destroy the probe.
Solar science
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What can we learn from this risky mission? The dynamic activity caused by charged particles and radiation emitted by the Sun when they collide with the Earth is called solar weather. The consequences of sunny weather can be catastrophic, including loss of satellite communications, changes in the orbit of spacecraft near the Earth, and damage to global power grids. More importantly, there is the risk of exposing astronauts to powerful ionizing radiation.
The devastating cost of such violent electromagnetic storms is estimated at US $ 2 trillion and space weather has been officially listed on the UK's National Risk Register.
The new solar probe could revolutionize our understanding of the conditions that the solar atmosphere needs to generate powerful blasts of space weather by directly measuring magnetic fields, plasma density and atmospheric temperatures. Just as an elastic band can break after prolonged stretching, the constant twisting and pulling of the magnetic field lines that pierce the sun's atmosphere can accelerate particles and cause radiation bombardment. As soon as the magnetic fields collapse, we feel the effects of space weather.
Unfortunately, we do not currently have a direct way to study the magnetic fields of the sun. Scientists are trying to find new methods that will determine the twisting, strength and direction of the powerful fields of the sun, but so far they do not give accurate results. The Parker probe should help us with this: it will be able to study the powerful fields of the sun right next to the star.
Regular observations and direct measurements of atmospheric conditions responsible for increased space weather activity are of paramount importance to provide critical warning of imminent solar threats. The onboard FIELDS instrument suite should provide this unprecedented information. Scientists can then overlay it on computer models and provide space, aviation, energy, and telecommunications agencies with constant warnings of possible space weather disturbances.
Of course, understanding the origins of space weather will come in handy in other important areas of astrophysical research. Space agencies will be able to better protect astronauts during future manned missions to Mars, when only the thin atmosphere of the Red Planet will protect them from incoming solar radiation.
In addition, with the ability to accurately simulate the effects of solar wind streams, the future spacecraft will be able to make better use of solar sails, with which scientists hope to move further into the depths of the solar system. Perhaps it is they who will open for us real interstellar travel.
ILYA KHEL
