The spacecraft will have to travel through unimaginably hot material - all while being bombarded with fierce sun light.
by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and was built at Carbon-Carbon Advanced Technologies, using a carbon composite foam sandwiched between two carbon plates, according to a release. This lightweight insulation is replete with a finishing touch of white ceramic paint on the sun-facing plate to reflect as much heat as possible. Tested to withstand up to 3,000 F , the 'TPS can handle any heat the Sun can send its way, keeping almost all instrumentation safe'.
Electronic wiring was another challenge - cables would generally melt from exposure to heat radiation in such proximity to the Sun. To overcome this, the team grew sapphire crystal tubes to suspend the wiring and made the wires from niobium. The spacecraft is also designed to keep itself safe and on track to the Sun autonomously. Several sensors that are attached to the body of the spacecraft along the edge of the shadow from the heat shield will alert the central computer if they detect sunlight. The spacecraft can then correct its position to protect the sensors and the rest of the instruments safely.There's another factor that makes the 13th perihelion more special.
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