 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 by Staff Writers Paris, France (SPX) Aug 10, 2018
Parker Solar Probe will soon become the spacecraft to travel the closest to the Sun, by positioning itself a little over 6 million kilometers from our star's surface. During its journey within the solar corona, the NASA probe will notably have an onboard instrument developed by researchers from the CNRS, Universite d'Orleans, and the CNES. In total five French laboratories are involved in this mission seeking to lift the veil on phenomena observed in the Sun's atmosphere. The probe is planned to leave Earth on August 11, 2018. A little closer to the stars, inside the plasma corona surrounding the Sun. That's the goal of NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission, in an attempt to solve one of the biggest mysteries of contemporary physics: how can its atmosphere's temperature rise above a million degrees when that of its surface only reaches 6,000 Celsius? Astrophysicists have already proposed that the corona could be heated by electromagnetic waves produced on the surface, although it is impossible to test this hypothesis without going to this environment of extreme conditions, as the probe will do. Its measurements will also make it possible to study other phenomena, such as the sources of solar wind. Parker Solar Probe will reach its target in November 2018, just three months after its launch from Cape Canaveral scheduled for August 11, on board NASA's most powerful launcher, the Delta IV Heavy rocket. To reach its target so quickly, the probe will break the speed relative to the Sun record: at the closest point to the star, it will reach 700,000 kilometers per hour. At that speed relative to Earth, Parker Solar Probe would travel from Paris to Sydney in less than 2 minutes! The probe will complete twenty-five orbits near the Sun on this mission, interspersed with flybys near the Earth's orbit, during which the collected data can be sent to scientists. Its last three orbits will take it very near the Sun, nearly 6 million kilometers from the solar surface. This American mission made the most of the expertise of five French laboratories, including the Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E; CNRS/CNES/Universite d'Orleans), which developed an instrument aboard Parker Solar Probe, a search-coil magnetometer for measuring variations in the corona's magnetic field. These measurements will be crucial for understanding how the corona can be heated to temperatures above a million degrees. In addition, teams from the Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales et d'Instrumentation en Astrophysique (Observatoire de Paris-PSL/CNRS/Universite Paris Diderot/Sorbonne Universite) and the Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (CNRS/Observatoire de Paris-PSL/Ecole Polytechnique/Universite Paris-Sud/Sorbonne Universite) contributed to the development of a radio receptor and two spectrometers produced in the United States. With regard to l'Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (CNRS/CNES/Universite Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier), it will be involved in the utilization of the images taken by the probe's onboard camera. Finally, the solar oven from the Procedes, Materiaux et Energie Solaire Laboratory of the CNRS enabled the testing of Parker Solar Probe's materials and sensors in conditions similar to those they will face near the Sun. The know-how of these laboratories will also benefit another solar exploration mission planned for 2020, the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter mission, which will set out for the Sun with various on-board measuring instruments developed by a number of French laboratories.
Ready for Its Day in the Sun: The SWEAP Investigation Boston MA (SPX) Aug 06, 2018 When NASA's Parker Solar Probe launches into space from the Kennedy Space Center, it will begin its journey to the Sun, our nearest star. The Parker Solar Probe will travel almost 90 million miles and eventually enter through the Sun's outer atmosphere to encounter a dangerous environment of intense heat and solar radiation. During this harrowing journey, it will fly closer to the Sun than any other human-made object. To revolutionize our understanding of our most important and life-sustaining sta ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
