NASA plans to visit the sun.

kitt
By kitt

If you've seen Danny Boyle's movie Sunshine, you may be a little disappointed: NASA's mission to visit the Earth's sun won't include sending people up there.But NASA will be sending a spacecraft into the Sun's atmosphere, approximately four million miles from its surface. The project, called Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch sometime before 2018.Four million miles doesn't sound very close, but it's still very exciting, since this is a region no other spacecraft (created by us) has ever encountered. NASA plans for the project to "unlock the sun's biggest mysteries."Although the spacecraft will be relatively far from our star's surface, its carbon-composite heat shield will have to withstand intense radiation, as well as temperatures exceeding 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit."The experiments selected for Solar Probe Plus are specifically designed to solve two key questions of solar physics -- why is the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than the sun's visible surface and what propels the solar wind that affects Earth and our solar system?" said Dick Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division in Washington.We have been struggling with these questions for decades and this mission should finally provide those answers.

By britexpat• 9 Sep 2010 14:06
britexpat

There are already experiments to build Solar Wings near the sun - not on it..

The idea is that the panels would harnes the energy and direct it (like a laser beam) to points on earth..

Ofcourse , the same could be used as a weapon of mas destruction :O)

By anonymous• 9 Sep 2010 08:21
anonymous

LP errrrrrr for bullshyte :P

Bullshitting is also a science :P

By Dracula• 9 Sep 2010 08:19
Dracula

verisi...

I am crying right now..just reading your post!

You're the single hope of the whole Humanity!

A new Einstein between us...

Bravo! :)

By verisimilitude• 9 Sep 2010 01:52
verisimilitude

Instead of building solar panels on earth, imagine how much MORE energy we could create if we could build solar panels on the sun itself?

By Ice Maiden• 8 Sep 2010 23:30
Ice Maiden

WK will fill you up on that. Won't you WK?

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 23:27
anonymous

The Nobel Prize for what, WK?

By Ice Maiden• 8 Sep 2010 22:53
Ice Maiden

Oh yes, you do. The Nobel Prize for ------- goes to WK for _ _ _ _ . :)

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 22:49
anonymous

Ice I do deserve it, don't I :P

LP don't get jealous when I get my Nobel :D

By Ice Maiden• 8 Sep 2010 21:16
Ice Maiden

Now these guys should be awarded the Nobel prize..WK & Rshimba.

By britexpat• 8 Sep 2010 20:50
britexpat

The mission could help push the use of solar and magnetic energy for propulsion purposes..

More to the point, will the new Solar Flare based Extermitron technology be shared with all nations ??

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 19:16
anonymous

NASA employs scientists from every country. It's an issue of the human race. If you crave on your nationality you belong in the 19th century at the most.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 18:38
anonymous

twenty, that was a BP's problem..they were responsible to plug the leak...not americans in general.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 18:36
anonymous

lets first get some heavy water from the moon to take care of the possible energy crisis of the earth in the future..

By twenty• 8 Sep 2010 18:35
twenty

I can’t believe Americans can do that….. even they can’t manage the Gulf of Mexico oil leak in a well way…how they can do mission to sun

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 18:30
anonymous

We need to understand the sun, son. Our planet and life are totally dependent on its behavior. And in a 4 billion years the sun will be dead cold. So, it's good to know how and when these things happen.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 17:44
anonymous

we

we

we

we

we

we

we

we

we

we

we r studying abt earth. thats right....

i have seen a video abt the planet earth.

and in that video. its mentioned abt the earths core and the possible cause of earths magnetic field....

what i am trying 2 tell is....

v r not able 2 go 2 our core...

the temp is sooo high...

and what the point of going towards the sun???

which is much much hotter than earths core....

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 16:11
anonymous

i think first u must use WE not V.

Who told you they are not studying the earth?

say WE ten times

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 16:04
anonymous

v could not go 2 the center of the earth..

v could not find the secrets of earth core...

the center of our earth is also hot...

i mean, equally hot as sun itself.....

instead of studying abt our earth....

y they r wasting money and time on sun???

i think 1st v must know abt our planet. then v can go 4 other...

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 15:21
anonymous

Lincoln what i meant is that u can travel to point A and then to point B. although you went to the future in both cases, one of them is still the past relative to the other. also, when 2 observers are in motion, Time dilation would make each one of the 2 observers' view of time seem to be faulty from the other observer's perspective that is...so even relativity is relative

This is all in our universe ;) .. so you can imagine any other parallel universe where even physical properties and laws on a sub atomic level can drastically change.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:59
anonymous

Rye, actually the Theory of Relativity says that all physical laws are the same independent from the observer.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:57
anonymous

cool, drac.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:56
anonymous

u don't have to get into the speed of light to travel back and forth in time. Whether past or future, all depends on who is the observer ( relativity )

Traveling in time could be achieved through wormholes, which make sense mathematically, but the trick is the uncertainty on where u would pop out. ( time and place )

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:56
anonymous

u don't have to get into the speed of light to travel back and forth in time. Whether past or future, all depends on who is the observer ( relativity )

Traveling in time could be achieved through wormholes, which make sense mathematically, but the trick is the uncertainty on where u would pop out. ( time and place )

By verisimilitude• 8 Sep 2010 14:52
verisimilitude

so many human problems can be traced back to poor parenting

By Dracula• 8 Sep 2010 14:51
Dracula

Simulation of Special Relativity: Lorentz Contraction

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:48
anonymous

It was the wax that melted. The wings were fixed with wax from the bees. As Icarus came too close to the sun, against the advice of his father Daedalus, the wax melted and the wings fell apart.

By britexpat• 8 Sep 2010 14:46
britexpat

He didn't even make it out of the troposphere ..

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:45
anonymous

That's another fairy tale, about Daedalus and Icarus, veris.

By verisimilitude• 8 Sep 2010 14:44
verisimilitude

he tried flying to the sun and his wings melted... didn't he know Lorentz transformation?

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:25
anonymous

Since when do you believe in fairy tales, WK?

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:24
anonymous

Okay, brit. But you will shrink to 0. Enjoy the Speed of Light and over.

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:23
anonymous

I heard Chuck Norris runs faster than the speed of light :(

By britexpat• 8 Sep 2010 14:22
britexpat

OK.. Einstein worked with tools of his day.. I have therefore decided to do away with warp engines and go with a Tachyon particle propulsion unit....

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 14:14
anonymous

drac, don't confuse brit with 'religious' stuff, please.

By Dracula• 8 Sep 2010 13:54
Dracula

Chronicles record time a "document" of the College of Bavaria, which is written in black and white that the speed with which "steam locomotive going ill human brain ... furiosum delirium, recommending that over the railroads to build walls , to protect the eyes and ears of "apocalyptic vision".

:)

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ro&u=http://istoriiregasite.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/inventii-in-istorie-calea-ferata-si-locomotiva/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DVITEZA%2BLOCOMOTIVEI%2BCU%2BABURI%2BVA%2BUCIDE%2BPASAGERII%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26noj%3D1&rurl=translate.google.com.qa&usg=ALkJrhiRzh1UlDiSb8u0eiigcuHGbgtZnw

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 13:36
anonymous

And the reason for that is, that an object travelling at the Speed of Light shrinks to Zero according to the Lorentz transformation. The formula is easy. The length contraction equals the original length multiplied with the root of 1- vsquare over the square of c. (c being the Speed of Light). If the speed (v) gets close to the Speed of Light (c), then it becomes 1. (1 is the unit for the Speed of Light in this system of measurement.) So, you'll get 1 - 1, and that is 0. The square root of 0 is also 0. If you multiply the original length with 0, you'll get 0. Voila.

By britexpat• 8 Sep 2010 13:31
britexpat

Not even using warp engines powered by dilithium crystals ??

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 13:27
anonymous

brit, it is not possible for matter to travel at a speed higher than the Speed of Light.

By Visper• 8 Sep 2010 08:09
Visper

welcome to the Sun (shine).. :)

By britexpat• 8 Sep 2010 02:28
britexpat

If they travel up to the speed of light, then using the sun's gravitational pull, cause a slingshot effect and catapult away at a speed greater than the speed of light. Then they will in effect be travelling back in time...

Won't they ?

By rEzyz• 8 Sep 2010 02:11
rEzyz

its would be damn impossible for them to do that...

http://hubpages.com/hub/Landing-On-The-Sun---Is-It-Possible

By anonymous• 8 Sep 2010 02:01
anonymous

Time travel is only possible into the future, brit. Not into the past. Sorry.

By britexpat• 7 Sep 2010 23:58
britexpat

I wonder if they'll be able to slingshot around the sun and travel back in time..

By TailChopper• 7 Sep 2010 23:57
TailChopper

"Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun"

NASA listens to pink Floyd

By Dracula• 7 Sep 2010 23:54
Dracula

I know the real reason:

"Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star"

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:54
anonymous

my plane actually collected some helium from the sun to fill balloons for me..:)

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:51
anonymous

I was higher up

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:50
anonymous

if the drops fell on my plane...proves my plane was closer to the sun..

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:48
anonymous

Maybe the Astronauts of my team were taking a leak and some drops fell on yours :(

Sorry about that :P

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:46
anonymous

yeah, my paper plane got wet and then i understood it must have been raining..

By drmana• 7 Sep 2010 23:46
drmana

Lol WK, answered to the point.

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:42
anonymous

Rishi I once sent a paper plane up in the sky when I was a kid to carry out this research :(

By Dracula• 7 Sep 2010 23:40
Dracula

He's smart!

Acha!

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:38
anonymous

oh wk, how did you figure that out..:)

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:33
anonymous

This will tell us that the Sun is a bit too hot to live in :(

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:32
anonymous

drmana, we cant say that it would be an absolute waste of money..because when such reserch projects are budgeted and sanctioned, the immediate and long term returns or benifits are also considered.

we dont really know what this information would lead us to..

i am inquisitive to know.

By britexpat• 7 Sep 2010 23:30
britexpat

They will help scientists study solar winds, magentic forces, heat and radiation etc...

Using this knowledge we can build more destructive weapons of mass destruction..

By Dracula• 7 Sep 2010 23:26
Dracula

I hate the sun light!

:(

The first way that Guiness extinguishes the Sun is by cooling the heat from it.

This is possible through beer’s ability to absorb massive amounts of heat by converting water to alcohol vapor.

Without heat, the Sun cannot keep the oxidizer burning to sustain the fire.

No more nightmare for me! :P

Go,Irish mission..Go!Go!Go!

By drmana• 7 Sep 2010 23:21
drmana

Waste of money I would say.

By anonymous• 7 Sep 2010 23:21
anonymous

what would be the benifit to the mankind once we have those answers?

By britexpat• 7 Sep 2010 23:10
britexpat

The Irish have already announced plans for their probe.... It will go at night and study the effects of solar winds on the pouring of a Guiness..

Log in or register to post comments

More from Qatar Living

Qatar’s top beaches for water sports thrills

Qatar’s top beaches for water sports thrills

Let's dive into the best beaches in Qatar, where you can have a blast with water activities, sports and all around fun times.
Most Useful Apps In Qatar - Part Two

Most Useful Apps In Qatar - Part Two

This guide brings you the top apps that will simplify the use of government services in Qatar.
Most Useful Apps In Qatar - Part One

Most Useful Apps In Qatar - Part One

this guide presents the top must-have Qatar-based apps to help you navigate, dine, explore, access government services, and more in the country.
Winter is coming – Qatar’s seasonal adventures await!

Winter is coming – Qatar’s seasonal adventures await!

Qatar's winter months are brimming with unmissable experiences, from the AFC Asian Cup 2023 to the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024 and a variety of outdoor adventures and cultural delights.
7 Days of Fun: One-Week Activity Plan for Kids

7 Days of Fun: One-Week Activity Plan for Kids

Stuck with a week-long holiday and bored kids? We've got a one week activity plan for fun, learning, and lasting memories.
Wallet-friendly Mango Sticky Rice restaurants that are delightful on a budget

Wallet-friendly Mango Sticky Rice restaurants that are delightful on a budget

Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a sweet escape into the world of budget-friendly Mango Sticky Rice that's sure to satisfy both your cravings and your budget!
Places to enjoy Mango Sticky Rice in  high-end elegance

Places to enjoy Mango Sticky Rice in high-end elegance

Delve into a world of culinary luxury as we explore the upmarket hotels and fine dining restaurants serving exquisite Mango Sticky Rice.
Where to celebrate World Vegan Day in Qatar

Where to celebrate World Vegan Day in Qatar

Celebrate World Vegan Day with our list of vegan food outlets offering an array of delectable options, spanning from colorful salads to savory shawarma and indulgent desserts.