NASA’s mission to map the Sun protection bubble could help better predict the dangerous time of space

The sun is an energetic star, constantly radiating with energy and pumping the flow of particles loaded in space. And although this solar wind can be dangerous in itself, without it, the earth and all the other members of our planetary system would be at constant risks of space threats. Our host star creates a protective bubble called the heliosphere which extends far beyond the orbit of Neptune, protecting the planets of the interstellar environment. However, although we can owe our existence to this bubble, scientists know relatively little.

This can be about to change: NASA prepares a whole new mission which will travel 1 million kilometers from the earth in order to map the limits of the heliosphere, offering clues to scientists on the exact nature of the celestial domain that we call here.

Scheduled on September 23, the interstellar probe of cartography and acceleration of NASA, or IMAP, will go to orbit the sun at a gravitational stable point in the space known as First Sun Lagrange Point (L1). From this unique point of view, IMAP will collect data on the heliosphere without magnetic interference of the planets. The mission could help unlock a new understanding of the motors of the space weather and, above all, to prepare humanity for the exploration of deep space.

Burst my bubble

The heliosphere is a complex environment that the land of cocoons and the rest of the planets of the solar system. As the charged particles emitted by the sun swept the space, it creates a bubble that looks like a deflated balloon, with a rounded nose and an elongated tail. Acting as a giant shield, the heliosphere protects the planets from cosmic radiation.

The IMAP, which NASA describes as a “modern celestial cartographer”, will map the border of the heliosphere and identify the particles in the interplanetary space. In doing so, the probe will study how the charged particles released by the sun interact with the space environment.

The mission is based on the spaceships to travel pioneers, the first objects of human manufacture to cross the border of the heliosphere and to venture into the interstellar space.

“With IMAP, we will advance the limits of knowledge and understanding of our place not only in the solar system, but in our place in the Galaxy as a whole,” said Patrick Koehn, scientist of the IMAP program, in a press release. “While humanity develops and explores beyond the earth, missions like IMAP will add new pieces of the meteorological puzzle of the space which fills the space between the solar probe Parker in the sun and the travels beyond the heliopause.”

Heliosphere explorer

The IMAP is equipped with 10 instruments, all wrapped in a relative compact body which extends 8 feet wide (2.4 meters) and 3 feet high (1 meter). The cylindrical structure of the spaceship allows it to turn at a rate of approximately 4 revolutions per minute, with different sections on the side for its different instruments and a higher bridge with solar networks and magnetometers.

Of his 10 instruments, three are designed to collect energetic neutral atoms. These atoms start life as particles charged positively released by the sun, but they collide in other particles in space while they circulate through the solar system. As they collide, some of the positively charged particles lose their charge, thus becoming an energetic neutral atom.

By collecting energetic neutral atoms, the IMAP can be able to trace their origins and build maps of the boundaries of the heliosphere. “The IMAP will advance our understanding of two fundamental questions about how particles are under tension and transported throughout the heliosphere and how the heliosphere itself interacts with our galaxy,” said Shri Kanekal, scientist of the IMAP mission, in a press release.

The mission will also collect real -time observations from the solar wind and energy solar particles, which can sometimes affect the earth and the spacecraft in orbit around the planet. In this sense, IMAP could warn us if the time of dangerous space is heading within 30 minutes. “The IMAP mission will provide very important information for traveling in deep space, where astronauts will be directly exposed to the dangers of solar wind,” said David McComas, principal investigator of the IMAP at Princeton University, in a statement.

The IMAP is also designed to measure interstellar dust, which is made up of tufts of tiny particles and which acts as constituent elements for stars and planets. In doing so, the mission will help scientists better understand what constitutes the stars and materials found outside our solar system.