NASA's six-mile-wide orbital telescope is 1/6th built
- Reference: 1660105812
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/10/nasa_sunrise_telescope/
- Source link:
The Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment, or SunRISE, will keep a close eye on our local star to help scientists gain a better understanding of space weather events caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The six "SmallSats" will orbit Earth approximately 22,000 miles (35,405.568km) away in a circular formation.
For reference, the Moon is approximately 238,900 miles (384,472km) from Earth, while the [1]James Webb Space Telescope 's home at Lagrange Point 2 sits approximately one million miles (1,609,344km) away.
[2]
SunRISE's SmallSats will connect together to act as a single antenna used to detect radio wave bursts that indicate a solar event that could have an impact on human space activities. Justin Kasper, SunRISE principal investigator, said that the ultimate goal of the project is to improve understanding of the mechanisms driving space weather events.
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"These high-energy solar particles can jeopardize unprotected astronauts and technology. By tracking the radio bursts associated with these events, we can be better prepared and informed," Kasper explained.
Because it doesn't have a lens, SunRISE will capture images using interferometry – the same principle as the Event Horizon Telescope NASA scientists used to photograph the [5]supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
[6]Sun storm probe OK'd: 'Our motivation is a fascinating signal that we have detected for decades but never been able to make an image of'
[7]The world's nonsense keeping you awake in middle of the night? Good news. Go outside and see this two-tail comet
[8]UK Space Agency will pay a new CEO £125,000 to run non-existent space programme
[9]The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Microsoft has pulled support for Internet Explorer in Microsoft 365
Interferometry "works by creating an array of smaller telescopes that can be synchronized to focus on the same object at the same time and act as a giant virtual telescope," NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory [10]explained .
Because it's in orbit, SunRISE will have the unique ability among interferometry telescopes to see long radio wavelengths normally blocked by Earth's ionosphere.
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Those radio wavelengths will help SunRISE pinpoint the origin of solar radio bursts, which will help Earth-based astronomers understand how early detection of solar energetic particles might benefit Earth. Its position will also allow SunRISE to map the pattern of solar magnetic field lines that reach into interplanetary space, NASA said.
With only the first of six satellites completed by Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory, SunRISE has some work to do before its estimated 2024 launch date – and that's far from a sure thing.
As part of the [12]NASA Explorer's Mission of Opportunity program that funds small-scale space projects, SunRISE will [13]have to rely on commercial space company [14]Maxar to ferry it into orbit. Depending on Maxar, SunRISE could launch anytime between April 2024 and September 2025. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/13/james_webb_space_telescope_images/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YvOByLTHWtirb@Gv3EF7ygAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YvOByLTHWtirb@Gv3EF7ygAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YvOByLTHWtirb@Gv3EF7ygAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/14/sagittarius_black_hole/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2020/04/01/nasa_sunrise_approved/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/11/neowise_comet_spotting/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/11/space_in_brief/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/08/18/internet_explorer_microsoft_365_support/
[10] https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/2019/4/19/how-scientists-captured-the-first-image-of-a-black-hole/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YvOByLTHWtirb@Gv3EF7ygAAAFE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://explorers.gsfc.nasa.gov/index.html
[13] https://blogs.nasa.gov/sunspot/2021/09/09/nasas-sunrise-mission-studying-solar-particle-storms-moves-toward-launch/#:~:text=Once%20in%20orbit%2C%20the%20host,of%20the%20commercial%20host%20spacecraft.
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/01/maxar_satellite_imagery/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
...Event Horizon...
This name always reminds me of the film. Imagine they create this telescope, it vanishes into a black hole and comes back out some years later. I for one would like to see the pictures ;-)
I'm sure I'm not the only one here who saw "toaster sized satellite" and immediately thought of the talkie toaster from red dwarf ... so, "anyone want some toast?"
Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see.
You mean, settle for tactile images... or what?
Hell of an approximation!
"The six "SmallSats" will orbit Earth approximately 22,000 miles (35,405.568km) away in a circular formation."
That Km conversion is remarkably precise for an approximation but can we have it in the Internationally recognised units, please? For reference - and to save on keystrokes for the update - it's about 252,902,632 Linquine. For readers in the Southern Hemisphere who prefer a more local equivalent, fractionally under 5,807,909 Giraffes.
/coat
Re: Hell of an approximation!
One meter difference does make optical interferometry quite unusable. Maybe they cut off some extra digits up to the nanometer scales to prevent us from getting too confused?
But then, the "approximately 22,000 miles" statement. I guess they are approximating interferometry on the mile boundaries. They must be listening in on the very low frequency AM transmissions coming from beyond the sun.
You do know that the sun's core is a gateway to another dimension, don't you? From there the aliens have been sending transmissions at low frequency. And surely, that we must pick up to join the intergalactic community. Rumours have it that the transmission contains the intergalactic community registration form.
the same principle as the Event Horizon Telescope NASA scientists used to photograph the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
[1] The Event Horizon Telescope is an international collaboration capturing images of black holes using a virtual Earth-sized telescope
[1] https://eventhorizontelescope.org/