In August NASA will launch a new interplanetary spacecraft, which “touches” to the Sun — and as soon as he received your rugged heat shield for the journey. At the end of June, engineers have installed a protective shield for a Solar Probe apparatus of Parker in Florida, where it is prepared for launch. Heat shield will keep the probe relatively cool, while it will heat our home star.
Parker Solar Probe will approach the Sun closer than any craft before it. The probe will be located at a distance of 6 million kilometers from the solar surface, where it will interact with the solar corona, or outer atmosphere. Its purpose is to learn more about the flow of heat in close proximity to this strange region of space. Particles in the corona is periodically strongly heated and are shot from the Sun, forming the solar wind. This stream of particles collides with the Earth’s magnetic field, causing geomagnetic storms, which confuse the satellites, interfere with power grids and create the Northern lights. NASA wants to find out what mechanisms are behind this phenomenon to better understand what causes solar winds.
But if you go to the corona of the Sun, you have to find a way to cool off. That’s why need a heat shield. The shield is very light, weighs only 80 kilograms and is made of double-layered carbon composite, which surrounds a thick layer of foam. The probe would have to accelerate to a speed of 660,000 miles per hour, so it should not be very heavy, otherwise it will not work on a given orbit.
The shield must do its job to protect everything that falls under his shadow, that is, the unit itself and its tools. The shield, of course, white. If possible, he will be warmed up to temperatures above 2500 degrees, and the Parker Solar Probe will keep the temperature at 85 degrees.
The launch is scheduled for August 4th.
NASA, which will go “touch the Sun”, received its heat superset
Ilya Hel