ScienceTechnologyspaceSunUK space agency
UK spacecraft to unlock secrets of the sun
by Nayanah Siva
 CC: Ethan Hein In 2017 purpose-built spacecrafts will voyage out into the mysterious deep dark depths of the unknown to seek habitable planets beyond our own solar system and get as close to the sun as never before - the plot to a new Star Trek film? Nope, a real project that is waiting for the go ahead from the UK Space Agency.The PLATO project, which stands for Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars, was one of the lucky few chosen out of 50 proposals to be awarded funding for their mission to go ahead between 2017 and 2020.The spacecraft would be powerful enough to move out far beyond our solar system, travelling out to orbit distant stars and exploring the unknown depths of space. Using several small telescopes, the spacecraft's aim is to detect rocky planets in the "habitable zone" beyond the solar system we currently know and live in.Having so many small telescopes will allow scientists to collect data on a large part of the sky and assess for possible planets similar to Earth, in particular those that have liquid water as well being the distance from their parent star so that the planet will be an appropriate temperature for life to develop on. In addition, the mission aims to collect data to try and understand how stars and planets like ours evolved.Currently the UK Space Agency has a fund of £3.65m to help UK scientists prepare for three new space missions, including PLATO, with the aim of unlocking the secrets of the sun, looking for new planets that could harbour life, and the quest for understanding dark matter and dark energy.Another project also hoping for a cut in this funding is the Solar Orbiter. The mission is designed to understand our own star, the Sun, and it would be the first ever project to orbit the sun so close. In addition to having specifically-designed equipment to photograph the sun at such close proximity, the project aims to measure the gas and magnetic field that streams from the sun. "So, basically we will be able to 'see and touch' the solar wind from new angles", said Professor Louise Harra from theMullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, who is working on the project."The magnetic fields in space are tiny, about a billion times smaller than in a MRI machine and about 50,000 times smaller than the Earth's magnetic field that you can sense with a compass," explains Professor Timothy Horbury from Imperial College London who is working on the project, "so it's a really delicate measurement and very few groups around the world can make these instruments".This project is so important says Harra, "we need to understand the Sun to understand how it affects the Earth's environment and the impact on satellite technologies that we are so dependent on.""These exciting missions will help unlock some of the greatest mysteries of our universe and have huge potential in furthering our knowledge of space science, " said the Minister of Universities and Science David Willetts in a statement.
Edited by Olivia Solon
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