Another Science Dump within 24 hours? Whaaat? That’s right my nerdizzles. I’m on a ROLL. I decided I am going to post a Science Dump in honor of today’s Parker Solar Probe launch. Not many knew that this was even a thing, let alone an important thing. But alas, it was launched and it will do great things. Let’s get started.Parker Solar Probe:Well first off, what is it? Well, simply put, it’s a solar probe that’s going to the Sun to answer some 60 year old questions. The whole journey with all 24 orbits around the Sun and 7 Venus gravity assist flybys will take about 7 years. Each orbit around the Sun will gradually shrink in distance from the Sun, getting as close as 3.8 million miles away from the surface of the Sun!Well that’s all fine and dandy, but why are they even doing this? Well as much as we think we know about our own little star, we know close to nothing about it. Plus, this is the closest star we can study, so studying our own star will unlock loads of secrets about how other stars operate. Remember, our star is one of the most common stars in our galaxy, so learning about ours will helps us understand others. Basically, the Parker Solar Probe will travel through the Sun’s atmosphere, closer to the surface than any other spacecraft. There are three primary science goals that the probe will tap into: it will trace how heat and energy move through the solar corona, it will explore what accelerates the solar wind as well as solar energetic particles, and it will determine the structure and dynamics of the plasma and magnetic fields at the sources of solar winds. Why is all of this important? Well if you noticed, most of what it will be observing is solar wind patterns and sources.
“Parker Solar Probe will provide new data on solar activity and make critical contributions to our ability to forecast major space-weather events that impact life on Earth”. The Sun affects everything on Earth, so it would make sense to learn as much as we can about the thing that gives life and that can potentially destroy life. I said before that the probe will get as close as 3.8 million miles away from the surface of the Sun. Well what does that even mean? 4 million miles, that’s a long way away. Sure, in the strictest sense, that’s a lot of miles. But think of it this way, imagine a football field and the Sun was on one end-zone and the Earth was on the opposite end-zone. That would place the Parker Solar Probe at the 4 yard line on the Sun’s side of the field. That is extremely close. Now you may be thinking, if the probe is going to be that close to the Sun, wouldn’t it get SUPER hot? The answer is yes! The front part of the probe will reach temperatures at about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,377 degrees Celsius). With that being said, the spacecraft’s payload on the inside will remain near room temperature. How?! We’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s cover how fast this thing will go. This thing, is FAST. At closest approach, the solar probe will reach to speeds around 430,000mph (700,000kph). That’s fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. in just 1 second. That’s a lot of stuff this spacecraft is doing and enduring. The probe itself is actually one hell of a feat. Like I said before, the probe will have to withstand the Sun’s heat and will be pelted with 2,500 degrees of heat. Well, won’t that melt? Not on this one no! To withstand the Sun’s heat, the spacecraft instruments will be protected by a 4.5 inch-thick carbon composite shield. Well, it’s a solar powered spacecraft, so wouldn’t it get too much energy if it’s that close to the Sun? In the word’s of NASA, “The compact, solar-powered probe will house solar arrays that will retract and extend as the spacecraft swings toward or away from the Sun during several loops around the inner solar system, making sure the panels stay at proper temperatures and power levels. At it’s closest passes the spacecraft must survive solar intensity of about 475x what spacecraft experience while orbiting Earth”. But because of the engineering ingenuity NASA made, they can protect the spacecraft itself but more importantly, keep the instruments inside at a safe temperature. What are the instruments inside anyway? Let’s take a look! There are 4 main instruments in the probe that will be used for observation and study. The first being the Field Experiment. Basically what this will do is make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields and waves, poynting flux, absolute plasma density and electron temperature. Next we have the Integrated Science Investigation of the Sun. This will make observations of energetic electron, protons, and heavy ions that are accelerated to high energies in the Sun’s atmosphere and inner heliosphere. It then correlates them with solar wind and coronal structures.Next we have the Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe. These telescopes will take images of the solar corona and inner heliosphere at the closest distance possible!Finally we have the Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas, and Protons (SWEAP) Investigation. This will count the most abundant particles in solar wind and measure their properties such as velocity, density, and temperature.This is probably one of the most exciting probes to be launched into space because of the importance of the questions that will be answered. Also, not to brag but I did sign up to have my name on a hard drive that is now currently on its way to the Sun soooooo. BOOM. My name is also going to Mars soon LOL.I hope you learned a lot about this exciting probe that launched today! I know I am. As always, if you have any questions shoot my a message or send an ask so I can answer to the best of my abilities for everyone to see. STAY NERDY!R.L.
World of Astrophysics — Science Dump: Parker Solar Probe Edition
