Re:Traveling to the Sun: Why Won't Parker Solar Probe Melt?
by jschwartzi on Thursday July 19, 2018 @06:35PM
(#17570939)
That seems really complicated for something that the solar arrays do with no moving parts.
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Re:Traveling to the Sun: Why Won't Parker Solar Probe Melt?
by greglindahl on Thursday July 19, 2018 @07:08PM
(#17571144)
Note the quote from a while ago:
> They are mounted to motorized arms that will retract almost all of their surface behind the Thermal Protection System – the heat shield – when the spacecraft is close to the Sun.
Yes, there's a moving part. It only has to move twice (deploy, mostly retract) but it's still a moving part.
Re:Traveling to the Sun: Why Won't Parker Solar Probe Melt?
by jschwartzi on Friday July 20, 2018 @10:23AM
(#17575198)
A motor that predictably moves an object from one point to another can be much more reliable than an array of heat-driven reciprocating engines that have to be in constant motion and rely on conducting heat toward the internals of the spacecraft in order to function.