NASA, the US space agency, recently announced a new mission called SunRISE (Sun Radio Interferometer Space Experiment) to look into how the Sun generates & releases the giant weather storms into space, which are also known as solar particle storms. A better understanding of the effects of the solar particle storms on space could help protect astronauts and spacecrafts.
This mission’s design consists of six CubeSats which would operate as a single radio telescope. The CubeSats will create three-dimensional maps to trace where the giant particle bursts originate and their evolution as they expand outward. The Cubesats would also be monitoring and observing radio images of low-frequency emissions from the solar activity and transmission of this critical information will take place via the Deep Space Network of NASA. As a result, it will help determine what initiates and accelerates these giant jets of radiation.
It is worth mentioning that NASA has awarded approximately $62.6 million for launching this mission. This groundbreaking mission will gather information on the working of solar system. SunRISE is being managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in California. The SunRise project was one of the two missions, chosen by NASA for its Mission of Opportunity programme in 2017.
