Parker Solar Probe, Take the Solar Plunge |
Parker Solar Probe, Take the Solar Plunge |
Dec 25 2005, 12:33 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2454 Joined: 8-July 05 From: NGC 5907 Member No.: 430 |
Any serious plans to send a probe into the Sun to explore its depths as far as possible?
What would help a probe last as long as it could and how deep could it get? Could it even radio or laser out any data? What about a Sun skimmer? -------------------- "After having some business dealings with men, I am occasionally chagrined,
and feel as if I had done some wrong, and it is hard to forget the ugly circumstance. I see that such intercourse long continued would make one thoroughly prosaic, hard, and coarse. But the longest intercourse with Nature, though in her rudest moods, does not thus harden and make coarse. A hard, sensible man whom we liken to a rock is indeed much harder than a rock. From hard, coarse, insensible men with whom I have no sympathy, I go to commune with the rocks, whose hearts are comparatively soft." - Henry David Thoreau, November 15, 1853 |
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Guest_Geographer_* |
Nov 8 2007, 04:18 PM
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Guests |
What is the highest level of albedo that's been achieved with metals on Earth? If a shield had 100% reflectivity (impossible I know but theoretically), would that solve all heating problems, or does the albedo vary for different types of electromagnetic radiation?
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Sep 19 2010, 08:57 PM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1669 Joined: 5-March 05 From: Boulder, CO Member No.: 184 |
What is the highest level of albedo that's been achieved with metals on Earth? If a shield had 100% reflectivity (impossible I know but theoretically), would that solve all heating problems, or does the albedo vary for different types of electromagnetic radiation? At least in visible light silver is pretty high (somewhere above 90%). Dielectric coatings can use interference to make reflectivity even higher. More info here on reflectivity of coatings: http://www.optosigma.com/miva/merchant.mv?...ection+Coatings What is being used on the shield in the solar probe design? -------------------- Steve [ my home page and planetary maps page ]
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Sep 20 2010, 05:52 AM
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1592 Joined: 14-October 05 From: Vermont Member No.: 530 |
What is being used on the shield in the solar probe design? I was determined to find the answer to this seemingly simple question. Judging from the document, they're hedging their bets for prototype build and testing, but it will likely be 15cm of carbon-carbon with a coating of aluminum oxide or pyrolytic boron nitride. Page 58/146 marked as 3-42 of this: http://solarprobe.gsfc.nasa.gov/SolarProbe+ME.pdf QUOTE As part of the TPS Risk Mitigation effort, two potential ceramic coatings were found that met the requirements of the Solar Probe+ mission. Ceramic materials that are visibly white generally provide the optical characteristics compatible with the proposed shield passive thermal management strategy. These characteristics are low solar absorptivity and high IR emissivity. Thermodynamic stability and chemical compatibility with C-C are additional differentiators that further narrow the list of candidate ceramics. At the end of the study, both aluminum oxide (Al2O3), commonly called alumina, and pyrolytic boron nitride (PBN) were found to notionally satisfy these basic characteristics. Plenty more in there. |
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