China's first solar-integrated satellite will be launched in October. Compared with the US Parker spacecraft, which one is stronger?

In the past 10 years, China's space industry has caught up and made rapid progress, with the technological gap with the United States getting smaller and smaller. Not only has it landed on the moon and Mars with unmanned probes, it also has its own space station in space. At this stage, the overall level of China's space industry strength is second only to that of the United States.

However, the United States is still very strong in space exploration. As early as the last century, it completed the exploration of the eight planets in the solar system, which is unique in the world. The Voyager 1 probe, which has flown the farthest, was launched by the United States in the 1970s. As for the Apollo manned moon landing program, it is a space miracle recorded in world history.

(The four probes in the picture were all launched by NASA in the 1970s)

There is no end to the road of exploration! The universe is so vast that there are too many secrets waiting for us to uncover. At this stage, in addition to using astronomical telescopes to explore the secrets outside the solar system, we can also launch unmanned probes to explore the sun, eight planets, asteroids, comets, satellites and other celestial bodies in the solar system. my country has explored Mars (planet) and the moon (satellite), and plans to launch the Tianwen-2 probe to explore the 2016HO3 asteroid and the 311P comet around 2025. As for the exploration of the sun? It is reported that China will launch its first solar probe at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in October 2022. This solar probe is called the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory (ASO-S), which is a comprehensive satellite dedicated to solar exploration. In this field, my country is the first.

It should be noted here that the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory is only my country's first comprehensive solar probe, not my country's first solar probe. This point must be made clear. Simply put, the comprehensive solar probe has more and more powerful functions.

Why choose to launch in 2022? Friends who are familiar with astronomy should know that the activity of the sun has obviously become more intense in 2022. In June 2022, huge sunspots appeared on the surface of the sun and produced medium-level solar flares. Observational data show that solar activity will undergo a change in strength approximately every 11 years. The sun is currently in its 25th activity cycle, and its activity will become more intense in the future. According to scientists' predictions, the activity of the sun will reach its peak around 2025. The choice of launching a solar probe at this time is to observe the sun during its active period. The sun is a high-temperature plasma fireball suspended in the universe, driven by nuclear fusion at its core. It is not only extremely hot and can emit dazzling light, but also has an extremely strong magnetic field. Among the many observation missions of the advanced space-based solar observatory, one of the very important purposes is to detect changes in the sun's magnetic field. In addition, the observation of solar flares and coronal mass ejections is also a top priority, because these two phenomena can affect modern human life and the earth's environment, and cause damage to radio communications, etc. Scientists hope to find out whether the changes in the sun's magnetic field are related to these two explosions. Building a solar probe is not something that can be completed overnight. In order to ensure that there are no mistakes, it is necessary to go through repeated designs and verifications without experience. In fact, the project started as early as 2011. Many technicians have worked hard for more than 10 years just to wait for the good news in October 2022.

Compared with the Parker Solar Probe of the United States, which one is stronger? The Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018. It is also a probe dedicated to studying the sun and is the world's first probe to fly into the solar corona. The probe is named after Eugene Parker, an American scientist who discovered the solar wind. The old man died in March 2022. It is mainly used to detect plasma, high-energy particles and the magnetic field of the sun ejected by the sun. The United States has launched similar solar probes before, such as Helios 1 and Helios 2 launched in the 1970s. The total mass of the Parker Solar Probe is 646 kilograms, and the total mass of the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory is said to be 888 kilograms. The difference in mass is not big, and it is difficult to say which one is more advanced in terms of quality. From the perspective of the instruments carried, the Parker Probe carries 5 types of observation instruments, while my country's Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory carries 3 types of observation instruments, namely the full-disk vector magnetograph, the Lyman-alpha solar telescope, and the solar hard X-ray imager. In terms of the number of instruments, Parker Solar Probe obviously has more, but the functions of these instruments are different, and they are irrelevant and not very comparable. The most significant difference between the two solar probes should be their different orbits. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory is a solar probe orbiting the earth, operating in a sun-synchronous orbit 720 kilometers above the ground; while the Parker Solar Probe is a solar probe that revolves around the sun. The sun-synchronous orbit is referred to as SSO, and meteorological satellites, resource satellites, etc. mostly use this orbit. The average distance between the sun and the earth is about 150 million kilometers. When it is closest to the surface of the sun, it is only tens of millions of kilometers, and the maximum speed at perihelion can reach more than 200 kilometers per second. At such a close distance and close contact with the sun, the Parker Solar Probe has to withstand the scorching heat of thousands of degrees. For this reason, it is equipped with a 12-centimeter-thick carbon composite coat that can withstand high temperatures of 1400℃. Because it is too close to the sun, the electromagnetic interference from the sun is too strong, and communicating with the Parker Solar Probe is also a technical problem, but this did not stump NASA engineers. Obviously, the Parker Solar Probe is more advanced, and China's Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory is still technically weaker than the Parker Solar Probe. But this is my country's first comprehensive solar probe after all, and it is still worth looking forward to. The Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory has a design life of 4 years. According to past experience, the actual life may be longer than this. Once the sun goes crazy, humans will be affected. In the future, the Advanced Space-based Solar Observatory will greatly improve my country's ability to monitor solar activities, and can give early warnings for violent solar activities such as solar flares, and provide space meteorological services for my country's space activities.

Source: Science Exploration