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Solar Cruiser

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Solar Cruiser
Mission typeTechnology, heliophysics
OperatorNASA
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft typeSolar sail
DimensionsSail: 1,672 m2 (18,000 sq ft)
Start of mission
Launch date2025 (proposed)
Launch siteCape Canaveral Space Force Station
ContractorSpaceX
Sun orbiter
Orbital parameters
InclinationPolar

Solar Cruiser is a planned NASA spacecraft that would study the Sun while propelled by a solar sail.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). The mission would support NASA's Heliophysics Solar Terrestrial Probes program by studying how interplanetary space changes in response to the constant outpouring of energy and particles from the Sun and how it interacts with planetary atmospheres.[1]

The principal investigator is Les Johnson at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.[1]

Overview

The mission was selected for launch, riding with NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) and Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere (GLIDE). The Solar Cruiser spacecraft will demonstrate solar sailing around the Sun at an unusual polar orbit, while its coronagraph instrument would enable simultaneous measurements of the Sun's magnetic field structure and velocity of coronal mass ejections.[1] The craft's nearly 1,672 m2 (18,000 sq ft) solar sail will demonstrate the ability to use solar radiation as propulsion and facilitate views of the Sun not easily accessible with current technology, such as a close-up view of its poles.[1][2]

Solar Cruiser was awarded US$65 million for mission execution. Previously, US$400,000 for nine-month mission concept studies was presented to the Heliophysics Solar Terrestrial Probes program, which is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.[1].

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference PR Helio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "In 2024, our Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe will launch with two other science missions and a technology demonstration..." NASA. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
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