Probably The Coolest NASA Mission ever!

Well.. maybe not ever, but it's pretty damn close.


NASA is sending a probe to 'dive-bomb' the sun to take direct samples from our awesome star.



I'm really curious what material they're using.
They say it's carbon based, but that's so vague!


Anyways, enough of my blabbing, read on folks!


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...2010solarprobe

That is pretty different. Instead of going out to space, we are going towards the sun. Hasn't really been our focus generally. It's time.

Quote:
The solar probe's heat shield will have to withstand temperatures exceeding 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 degrees Celsius), as well as blasts of intense solar radiation.

Good luck with that! I hope it pays off.

I can't even imagine how hot 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit is.

Peach: Glad to see you retain your interest in space technology/exploration. A lot of spiritually ground-bound folks seem to thinks "space" is some peripherally unimportant niche but it is where 99.99999 and many more% of all of everything is located, outside the planetary womb we have yet to venture out of to live.

Wikipedia (the repository of all human knowledge) has a nice article on the Solar Probe Plus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Probe%2B
and a further link to carbon-carbon composite material as proposed for the heat shield
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforced_carbon-carbon

It looks like the plan is make a pass through the solar atmosphere and take nearly three months to cool off before doing it again.

Thanks for posting this. I had not heard of it previously.

Quote:
The solar probe's heat shield will have to withstand temperatures exceeding 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit (1,400 degrees Celsius), as well as blasts of intense solar radiation.
Originally Posted by cockforhire

Why don't they just go at night?

Gig 'Em

I love this stuff too!

Check out the James Webb telescope that's going up in 2014 (I believe). It will see far further than Hubble and who knows, we may get our first pics of distant earth-like planets.

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

Then we just have to figure out how to get there!

I love this stuff too!

Check out the James Webb telescope that's going up in 2014 (I believe). It will see far further than Hubble and who knows, we may get our first pics of distant earth-like planets.

http://www.jwst.nasa.gov/

Then we just have to figure out how to get there! Originally Posted by PSD

We can just use the Stargate!


Haha, sorry I've been doing a SG-1 marathon!

[quote=PeAcH;585664]We can just use the Stargate!

Do you know how LONG the waiting list is for Stargate?
Wrap speed is much faster and you decide where to land.
Also lots of hot chicks in mini skirts with big hair to copulate with en route.

[quote=harkontume;587321]

We can just use the Stargate!

Do you know how LONG the waiting list is for Stargate?
Wrap speed is much faster and you decide where to land.
Also lots of hot chicks in mini skirts with big hair to copulate with en route.
Originally Posted by PeAcH

I want on Jean Luc's ship. He has that latina from San Antonio....Marina is it?

true...
But Kirks girls have much bigger hair.. shorter skirts.. and that Retro hotness + vulnerability.. " Oh My" I've never done THAT before!"