NASA wants to launch a space laboratory in 2008 that will explore for the first time the area outside the solar system. The project's chief researcher: "This is a mission of discoveries"
After man walked on the moon and became a familiar visitor outside the Earth's atmosphere, the scientists of the American space agency, NASA, face a new challenge - launching a space laboratory outside our solar system.
The "Ibex" Interstellar Boundary Explorer - or Ibex - the explorer of the interstellar boundaries, is expected to embark on an unprecedented journey in 2008, when it will be launched on a rocket of the "Pegasus" type. This is the first time that a human will have the ability to photograph and study the space outside our solar system. The front, like everything, has a price, and the cost of the "Avex" is about 150 million dollars.
"Avex will provide the first step in the study of the galactic boundary," said Dr. David McCombs, the project's principal investigator, "through which we can obtain a very clear picture of the relationship between the Sun and the galaxy." McCombs added that the researchers anticipate that " "Avex" will provide an image of a region of space that was previously invisible.
In addition to the enormous contribution to space exploration, McCombs explained that the launch of the "Avex" may have an impact on the human race: "It will help us understand how the solar wind modulates radiation from the galaxy. It is radiation that may have influenced the process of evolution." He added excitedly: "This is a discovery mission. It is going to tell us a lot about the interstellar medium."
According to him, only the spacecraft Voyager 1, and its sister Voyager 2 launched in 1977 crossed or approached the outer boundary of the solar system, but none of them were designed to take the kind of pictures that could be taken with atomic detectors that would be placed on the Ivex spion.
The solar wind is caused by the outer atmosphere of the sun being ejected into space. It moves at a speed of one million to one and a half million kilometers per hour and creates a protective envelope around the entire solar system that extends far beyond the most distant planets. Avex will take pictures of the outer limits of the solar system to examine how the solar wind interacts with the galactic range. Dr. McComas says .
In addition to discovering the unknown properties of the edge of the solar system, Evex will also investigate how the solar wind modulates the radiation coming from the galaxy. This radiation is the main dangerous factor for the manned exploration of space and may also have influenced the formation of life and its development, its evolution." says.
The price of the spacecraft may reach 150 million dollars, a relatively small amount compared to other space journeys. It will be launched in a wide elliptical orbit to avoid the Earth's magnetic field that could damage the delicate instruments on the spacecraft.
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how long will it take for ibex to get out of the solar system?