NASA Solar Probe Blasts Toward Rendezvous With Sun

coondoggie writes "NASA this morning used a United Launch Alliance Atlas rocket to blast its 6,800lb Solar Dynamics Observatory into an orbit 22,300 miles above Earth. The $808 million spacecraft will ultimately study the Sun and send back what NASA called a prodigious rush of pictures about sunspots, solar flares and a variety of other never-before-seen solar events. The idea is to get a better idea of how the Sun works and let scientists better forecast the space weather to offer earlier warnings to protect astronauts and satellites, NASA said."

Comments

First we bomb the moon...

[PumpkinDog]

...now we're sending a spaceship to the sun?? I hope they're at least sending it at night so it won't get burnt.

Rendezvous ?

[mbone]

I think that I will go outside and rendezvous with the Sun too.

However, even if it isn't going much closer to the Sun than my back yard, it is in a cool orbit.

SDO is a sun-pointing semi-autonomous spacecraft that will allow nearly continuous observations of the Sun with a continuous science data downlink rate of 130 Megabits per second (Mbps). The spacecraft is 4.5 meters high and over 2 meters on each side, weighing a total of 3100 kg (fuel included). SDO's inclined geosynchronous orbit was chosen to allow continuous observations of the Sun and enable its exceptionally high data rate through the use of a single dedicated ground station.

So, it is in a geostationary orbit with the major advantage of the L1 Lagrange point (continuous observations) but requiring less fuel to reach, less power to communicate, and only one ground station (a L1 observatory needs 3, or sufficient on-board recording). That sounds like a major win for this new orbit, which I predict will be used more in the future.

With this orbit, it might also be able to get some cool pictures of Lunar eclipses, which SOHO (at the L1 Lagrange point) can never do.

Re: Rendezvous ?

[tweak13]

It is in a geosynchronous orbit, not a geostationary orbit. Any orbit with inclination cannot be geostationary and would require multiple ground stations or a steerable antenna. It may also be possible that they are using a fixed antenna and a highly elliptical orbit, and using that to create a long period of relatively little apparent motion from earth during which to perform their downlinks. That may also be how they create longer observation times.

Either way, this wouldn't allow continuous observation of the sun. It may be close, but at some point it is going to be near enough to the night side of earth to be in its shadow.

Re:Prodigious rush

[rockNme2349]

Thats 0.14 Library of Congresses / Day.

Sorry for the confusion.

-NASA