Scientists Identify Halting Mechanisms for Solar Eruptions

Rising from the sun’s surface like bulbous, fiery plumes, coronal mass ejections are bursts of magnetic energy from the sun’s corona. Often, these outbursts manifest as magnetic flux ropes, large and arching structures that either end in collapse or erupt outwards into surrounding space, throwing out millions of tons of plasma and radiation.

They’re considered an unpredictable threat to Earth technology and space missions. 

Researchers from the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have identified a mechanism that may indicate the halt of such an eruption. The research was published in Nature.

During laboratory experiments, the researchers discovered that when the guide magnetic field—which runs along the flux rope—is strong enough to keep the rope from destabilizing, it ends up collapsing rather than erupting.

NASA 2016 Budget Allots $55M to Habitation Module Development

As part of the $19.3 billion allocated by Congress to NASA for the 2016 fiscal year budget, $55 million will go towards accelerated development of a habitation module for use in potential deep space missions.

According to SpaceNews, the report states “NASA shall develop a prototype deep space habitation module within the advanced exploration systems program no later than 2018.” Further, the agency is required to provide Congress with a status update on the project within 180 days of the appropriation bill’s enactment.

The $55 million will come out of the $350 million Exploration Research and Development line item in the budget.

With the Orion Spacecraft, NASA hopes to send humans as far as Mars. However, the habitable volume of the crew capsule is only around 316 cubic ft.