How close can a ship pass to the sun?

hal · 11-29-2021, 01:42 AM

Hi All,
For those who wonder or shall ever wonder - how close can a space craft approach the sun and survive - we now have a possible answer:

https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-parke...ng-by-the-sun/

By my reckoning, the probe came within .057 AU of the Sun - and we'll find out sometime in December when the probe attempts to transmit the data to Earth of its passage. Ought to be interesting...

:)

If you want to use a figure such as .1 AU distance - that is probably going to work for your sci-fi games. After December 23rd, we may find out of .06 AU works...

Farmer · 11-29-2021, 01:48 AM

It also reached a velocity of nearly 1,800km/s (that's kilometres, not metres) - the fastest human made object ever so far. That's nearly 0.6% C. The Parker probe is cool in so many ways!

Anthony · 11-29-2021, 09:58 AM

A sun shield of a reasonable refractory material can in principle survive at around 0.006AU, though you need pretty complicated layered protections to get any useful spaceship behind that.

Fred Brackin · 11-29-2021, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hal

H

If you want to use a figure such as .1 AU distance - that is probably going to work for your sci-fi games. After December 23rd, we may find out of .06 AU works...

.1 AU was the informed guesstimate that this forum came up with many years ago when I asked this question.

It was for a system of fTL where jumplines termiated in inner solar systems and not outer. It's probably my favorite FTL and I am firmly of the belief that no good comes from sending PCs off to the edges of solar systems.Too much normal space travel capacity almost always makes for problems.

Mark Caliber · 11-29-2021, 10:20 AM

So (per the linked article) the NASA probe is closing within 5.3 million miles.

I did some research on our star many moons ago and the closest that one should consider approaching our primary is 1.0 million miles.

The navigational hazard that you need to avoid are the solar flare ups (I call them solar matter ejecta but that's not the appropriate 'scientific' term) that will tear off the surface of the primary at speeds up to 0.3 C. These lethal waves of plasma can randomly explode from the surface without (currently) any warning.

Traveling closer that 1.0 million miles becomes a game of Russian Roulette.

And THAT is how close one can get to our primary.

If it weren't for the fact that stars are a roiling sphere of nuclear immolation that are constantly spewing (spewing?) multi million degree jets of plasma, one could actually get a starship much much closer.

11-29-2021, 01:42 AM	#1
hal Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Buffalo, New York	How close can a ship pass to the sun? Hi All, For those who wonder or shall ever wonder - how close can a space craft approach the sun and survive - we now have a possible answer: https://scitechdaily.com/nasas-parke...ng-by-the-sun/ By my reckoning, the probe came within .057 AU of the Sun - and we'll find out sometime in December when the probe attempts to transmit the data to Earth of its passage. Ought to be interesting... :) If you want to use a figure such as .1 AU distance - that is probably going to work for your sci-fi games. After December 23rd, we may find out of .06 AU works...

11-29-2021, 01:48 AM	#2
Farmer Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia	Re: How close can a ship pass to the sun? It also reached a velocity of nearly 1,800km/s (that's kilometres, not metres) - the fastest human made object ever so far. That's nearly 0.6% C. The Parker probe is cool in so many ways! __________________ Farmer Mortal Wombat "But if the while I think on thee, dear friend All losses are restored and sorrows end."

11-29-2021, 09:58 AM	#3
Anthony Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Berkeley, CA	Re: How close can a ship pass to the sun? A sun shield of a reasonable refractory material can in principle survive at around 0.006AU, though you need pretty complicated layered protections to get any useful spaceship behind that. __________________ My GURPS site and Blog.

11-29-2021, 10:20 AM	#5
Mark Caliber Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Central Florida	Re: How close can a ship pass to the sun? So (per the linked article) the NASA probe is closing within 5.3 million miles. I did some research on our star many moons ago and the closest that one should consider approaching our primary is 1.0 million miles. The navigational hazard that you need to avoid are the solar flare ups (I call them solar matter ejecta but that's not the appropriate 'scientific' term) that will tear off the surface of the primary at speeds up to 0.3 C. These lethal waves of plasma can randomly explode from the surface without (currently) any warning. Traveling closer that 1.0 million miles becomes a game of Russian Roulette. And THAT is how close one can get to our primary. If it weren't for the fact that stars are a roiling sphere of nuclear immolation that are constantly spewing (spewing?) multi million degree jets of plasma, one could actually get a starship much much closer. __________________ (Censored)