A Future Spacecraft to Travel to Our Sun

Never has there been travel to the sun for obvious reasons--what spacecraft could withstand the roaring hot temperature of our sun? There are plans, however, to launch the Solar Probe Plus (SPP), a spacecraft that is scheduled to be added to the list of famous NASA probes and whose construction hasn't even been completed yet. There are plans to launch the SPP before the year 2018. Although not even the most sophisticated NASA probes have been able to resist being burned up by our sun, scientists hope that the SPP will come closer to the sun's atmosphere than any other spacecraft in history has.

The Heat of the Sun's Atmosphere

Although the SPP will not be designed to go to the actual surface of our sun, it will perhaps be the first of all of the NASA probes to enter the sun's atmosphere which scientists believe to be significantly hotter than the surface of our sun that we can see (the photosphere). An illustration of our sun and its outer atmosphere, called the corona, would better drive home just how close the SPP is scheduled to get to the star that provides heat and light for Earth. Will the giant heat shield not yet constructed be able to guard the instruments of the spacecraft from destruction by the heat and radiation to which it'll be exposed while flying in the sun's atmosphere? That remains to be seen.

The Purpose for Launching NASA probes to Our Sun

What does NASA hope to learn about our sun? Two of the most important questions to which answers are sought include learning why the sun's atmosphere is so much hotter than its visible surface and discovering what it is that drives solar wind. Solar wind affects not only planet Earth but also our entire solar system. Considering the multitude of problems here on Earth, many are asking the very good question, "Is the money spent on NASA probes really worth it?"

While its understandable that the thought of space exploration is fascinating as evidenced by the millions of Trekkies (Star Trek fans) in the world, is this kind of extreme curiosity about the "final frontier" healthy? Speaking in a literal sense, it is not. Astronauts experience numerous and serious health problems even after very short term missions to outer space. The astronauts themselves who suffer withered muscles and bones, as well as the physicians who attend them are forcefully reminded that the bones and muscles of man, and probably of every other kind of animal, were made to stay in an environment in which gravity can act on them. Also, astronauts run a much higher risk of developing cancer because of their exposure to extremely high levels of radiation in space.

The answer to the question, "Has there been travel to the sun?" might be answered in the affirmative in the near future. However, will the accomplishment of this feat do anything to improve life here on Earth? Will Earth's atmosphere, which would be just fine if man would cease to pollute it, somehow be enhanced from information gathered about the sun's atmosphere? The sun, moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies were indeed created to be of importance to man; but, they weren't made to be worshiped or explored. The lights were given to separate days from nights, to keep track of seasons and to serve as signs. The north star led many people to the north, Polynesians successfully sailed the seven seas in ancient times long before sophisticated navigational equipment was ever made, and long before meteorology was a science ancient people could discern weather patterns by studying the heavens.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years (King James Bible, Genesis 1:14).

Source:

Katia Moskvitch Science Reporter, BBC News
NASA Hopes To Send A Craft Into The Sun's Atmosphere
BBC.co.uk