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NASA Plans Probe to the Sun

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the hope-they-bring-suntan-lotion dept.

FudRucker writes "For more than 400 years, astronomers have studied the sun from afar. Now NASA has decided to go there. 'We are going to visit a living, breathing star for the first time,' says program scientist Lika Guhathakurta of NASA Headquarters. 'This is an unexplored region of the solar system and the possibilities for discovery are off the charts.'"

17 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Okay? by Cyberax · · Score: 0, Redundant

    It's obvious - they will land on the Sun at night!

  2. Re:Okay? by Foobar+of+Borg · · Score: -1, Redundant

    And how exactly do you plan to do that? Do we have any material that won't melt under the intense heat?
    Oh, that's easy. They send the probe at night. (okay, stupid old joke, but I couldn't resist)
    --
    Similar to the upcoming US election results
  3. Don't Worry... by Kittoa · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Don't worry about the probe burning up, NASA is sending it at night.

      -Alex

  4. They will land at night! by bong+rouge · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Hey, I didn't see anyone say they would land at night!

  5. When? by hike2 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Are they going to go there at night to avoid the heat problem?

    --
    Fourty-two!
  6. When do they probe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    ... Uranus?

    I can't wait to see the headlines for those missions.

  7. Re:Okay? by BinBoy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    > It isn't that hot

    The sun's surface is at least 1x hotter than the surface of the sun.

  8. isn't the corona really hot? by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 1, Redundant
    I know the surface is like 6000C or so, but I thought the corona was in the millions of degrees. I don't see how they'd get anything close enough to it before the corona vapourised it.

    If you go here

    there's this data:

    "Gas particles in the corona can reach temperatures of up to 1,700,000 ÂC"

    - Prentice Hall Earth Science. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1987: 73.

    So wouldn't that tend to prevent anything man made from getting near the sun, much less its "surface" / chromosphere?

    RS

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  9. Re:Can we by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    I nominate G W. Bush.

  10. Re:Predicted probe results: by cpaalman · · Score: -1, Redundant

    1) The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
    2) A gigantic nuclear furnace, where hydrogen is built into helium at a temperature of millions of degrees.
    3) The sun is hot - the sun it not a place where we can live, but here on Earth there'd be no life without the light it gives.
    4) ...
    5) Profit!!

    there, fixed.

  11. there's no night on the sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Redundant

    so that's why they plan to land it at night.

    Day and night is caused by the rotation of the Earth.

    1. Re:there's no night on the sun by ElGanzoLoco · · Score: 0, Redundant

      *Wooooosh!*

      --
      Hello! I'm a disaster waiting to happen!
    2. Re:there's no night on the sun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

      *whoosh*

  12. Re:Okay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant
    This is insightful? How exactly is the probe supposed to "stop in the shadow of venus" to cool off? Multiple times?


    I should get modded "+25 genius" at this rate...

  13. Re:Don't worry NASA is not stupid. by Reverend528 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Did you even RTFA? The corona around the sun is a million degrees. You'd never be able to get to the surface without burning up.

    --
    Badass Resumes
  14. they could use.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    solar energy for sure. this thing makes sense!

  15. Are they by Akita24 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    going at night when it's cooler?