NASA Sun probe named for solar wind boffin Eugene Parker Breaking with the recent focus on flinging probes and bots at our planetary neighbours, around July next year NASA will set the controls for the heart of the Sun. Actually, the plan is for the Solar Probe Plus to stop a good 6.2 million kilometres (3.9 million miles) short of Sol's surface, where the craft will have to endure …
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It seems to have been one of the Thunderbirds favourite special effects. Getting them to sweat. They were always getting trapped somewhere very hot, and either being about to run out of air, cook, or both - counting down the time until being rescued at the last second.
Well that's when they weren't saving nuclear powered airliners from various fates.
I used to love the Thunderbirds. My favourite episode though is where Parker picks the lock of the vault of the Bank of England with one of Lady Penelope's hairpins.
The thermosphere (80-600 kmetres up) has temperatures up to 1500C. A reflecting heatshield is all it takes.
Admittedly, the wattage falling on a probe differs a bit between Earth's thermosphere and 6 million kilometers from the sun. In one situation, you've got a peak heat load of 1400 Watts per square meter. In the other, you've got about 900,000 Watts per square meter. Ultimate temperatures reached before achieving thermal equilibrium will differ a bit, as will required heat shield designs.
The high regions of the Earth's atmosphere exhibit similar temperatures. The thermosphere (80-600 kmetres up) has temperatures up to 1500C. A reflecting heatshield is all it takes.
But here's the thing -- although the (visible) surface of the sun is a mere 5500 deg C or thereabouts, the temperature of the (invisible to the naked eye) corona is measured in the millions of degrees. Why that should be and how it comes to pass is one of the things solar physicists would like to getting a better understanding of (what with it superficially appearing to violate thermodynamics and all. It doesn't really, of course)
The high regions of the Earth's atmosphere exhibit similar temperatures. The thermosphere (80-600 kmetres up) has temperatures up to 1500C. A reflecting heatshield is all it takes.
All you have to do is lure him into Hotblack Desiato's black stunt ship and before you can say "25th Amendment" he'd be toast! Or, indeed, plasma.
The actual line is "..every time I try and operate one of these small black controls that are labelled in black on a black background, a black light lights up black to let me know I've done it!"
...from memory. Too many years falling asleep to the original radio shows...
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