NASA wants to stick
your name on the solar
probe that will ‘touch the
Sun’
Even the most dedicated sky watching hobbyists have to accept
the fact that observing the amazing accomplishments of NASA
and other space-faring
faring organizations is as close as they’ll get to
participating in the exploration of the cosmos. NASA is trying to
change that ever so slightly with its Parker Solar Probe which is
slated to launch this summer. The probe will explore the Sun’s
atmosphere in a way that’s never been done before, and it will
truly be an incredible achievement if they can pull it off. The best
part is that you’re invited!
NASA just launched what it calls the “Hot Ticket” program to allo
allow
members of the general public to participate in the solar probe
mission by having their names included in a tiny memory card that
will be placed in the probe. It’s little more than a symbolic gesture
for space fans but it’s still pretty cool, and here’s how to sign up.
The Parker Solar Probe will be subjected to the most intense
How to Sign up
Simply enter your name and
email on NASA’s sign-up page
and submit your request.
Once you’ve done that you’ll
need to confirm your request
by clicking on an email link
sent from NASA. It’ll take you
to a new page where you can
confirm your submission and
receive your digital “ticket”
for the voyage.
journey of any manmade spacecraft to date. Its heat shield will be
over four inches thick in order to protect it from the Sun’s intense
heat. It will orbit the star at a distance of just under 4 million miles,
and it will have to endure temperatures of almost 2,500 degrees
Fahrenheit. Despite that intense heat, the instruments housed
within the probe will remain at roughly “room temperature”
according to NASA.
The probe, which is about
bout the size of a small car, will make
multiple loops around the Sun during its mission, inching ever
closer while gathering data about the star’s magnetic field and
atmosphere. That information will help inform scientists and
hopefully expand our knowledge
ge of how our Sun works. The
current mission timeline for the probe stretches to 2025, but could
be given additional extended missions depending on how things
pan out.
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The
http://parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu/The-Mission/Name-to-Sun/
refer::
www. BGR .com
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