Sun-orbiting satellite analyzes solar wind
Satellite image of the sun's surface. (NASA)
Dr. Steven Cranmer of the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics is using a sun-orbiting satellite to learn about solar wind: hot streams of charged particles that explode off the sun’s surface.
These particles continue to heat up as they accelerate out to a coasting speed of over a million kilometers an hour. Solar winds stream past all the planets. Most take about a day to get to Earth, although some small fraction of the most energetic particles can arrive in 10 minutes. Variations in the solar winds can cause disruptions in the magnetic field surrounding Earth.
Steven Cranmer: They can sometimes fry satellite electronics altogether. Sometimes they can reach down to the ground and cause power outages and even corrode long oil pipelines. They can also cause radiation damage to astronauts that are outside the Earth’s magnetosphere. If we are going back to the moon and Mars, we would need to either develop better predictive capabilities for changes in solar wind properties or develop better shielding for the spacecraft.
Dr. Cranmer is using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory – or SOHO. It’s equipped with special telescopes that block the sun itself, almost like a solar eclipse, to focus just on solar material flowing out into space.
Our thanks today to NASA: explore, discover, understand.
Our thanks to:
Dr. Steven Cranmer
Astrophysicist
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Solar, Stellar, and Planetary Sciences
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So, I guess that astronauts on past missions were very lucky that they didn’t get hit by a solar flare while on their way to the moon, huh?
Denyse, I’m not sure what the astronauts on their way to the moon did about that. I suspect they didn’t leave it to “luck,” but I don’t know if part of their craft was shielded … or maybe their spacesuits were shielded. I know that this sort of shielding is much-discussed …
Does anyone know about shielding on the Apollo mannned moon missions?
Deborah
I would think having the Service Module and the heatshield at their back gave the Apollo astronauts some shielding against the solar wind. Going to the moon around the full moon phase put the Apollo crew inside the earth’s magnetosphere. This offered more protection (which would not be available to a crew bound for Mars). The danger of getting hit by the solar wind was shown in James Michener’s book, “Space”. A solar flare kills two astronauts on the moon’s surface. The Command Module pilot was protected by being in the moon’s shadow.
I’ve just have learned this subjecy in my school, so it was very helpful for me. Thank you.
This is so cool.
Thanks Belinda!