NASA to visit “living, breathing star for the first time”

William Atkins
Wednesday, 11 June 2008 20:37

Science - Space

Solar Probe plus is a NASA mission to the Sun that will actually go into the Sun’s atmosphere to take measurements of the solar wind, magnetism, and other features of Earth’s star, the Sun. It will go where no spacecraft has gone before.

On June 8, 2008, NASA announced that Solar Probe plus (or Solar Probe+, “plus” because it is based on a design from “Solar Probe” of 2005) could likely launch sometime on or after May 2015. Specifically, it will visit the innermost heliosphere of the Sun; that is, the solar corona and polar photosphere.

The scientific goals of Solar Probe plus are to: (1) determine the dynamics and structure of the magnetic fields at the sources of the solar wind; (2) determine the mechanisms that accelerate and transport energetic particles; (3) trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind; and (4) explore plasma near the Sun and its influence on the solar wind and energetic particle formation.

The heat-resistant robotic spacecraft will “plunge” into the Sun’s atmosphere at speeds up to 125 miles (200 kilometers) per second, take measurements over a seven-year period, and (hopefully) help astrophysics learn many currently unknowns about our closest star.

Program scientist Dr. Madhulika “Lika” Guhathakurta (from NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.) states, "We are going to visit a living, breathing star for the first time. This is an unexplored region of the solar system and the possibilities for discovery are off the charts." [NASA: "NASA plans to visit the Sun"]

The U.S. space program has considered such a mission for over three decades. However, the technology was never advanced enough to accomplish such a mission with a good chance of a successful completion.

However, a team lead by scientists from the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at The Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) completed an initial engineering and design study in 2005, called Solar Probe, which concluded that a mission could be sent to the Sun under current technological and financial abilities.

Andrew Dantzler, the Solar Probe project manager at APL stated,  “We knew we were on the right track. Now we’ve put it all together in an innovative package; the technology is within reach, the concept is feasible and the entire mission can be done for less than $750 million [in fiscal 2007 dollars], or about the cost of a medium-class planetary mission. NASA decided it was time.” [APL: "NASA Calls on APL to Send a Probe to the Sun”]

Now, in June 2008, NASA calls the mission in its “pre-phase A” phase. Guhathakurta adds, “We have a lot of work to do, but it's very exciting." The Applied Physics Laboratory is designing the craft, and will eventually build it.

Extreme temperatures and blasts of radiation will challenge the mission. Please read on.