NASA Sounding Rocket Explores Sun's Active Regions and Heating Mechanisms

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is undertaking a groundbreaking mission using a sounding rocket to gather crucial observations that will unveil the secrets of the sun's corona heating phenomena. The mission, known as MaGIXS-2 (short for the second flight of the Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer), was launched from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on July 16, NASA reported.

MaGIXS-2 aims to unravel the mechanisms responsible for heating active regions on the sun through the application of X-ray spectroscopy. While Earth's star's surface temperature measures approximately 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, the corona exhibits an astonishing temperature exceeding 1.8 million degrees, with active regions reaching up to 5 million degrees.

Amy Winebarger, a heliophysicist at Marshall and the principal investigator for the MaGIXS missions, emphasizes the significance of studying X-rays emitted from the sun. These observations shed crucial light on activities occurring in the solar atmosphere, perpetually influencing Earth and the entire solar system.

By employing X-ray spectroscopy, scientists gain unparalleled insights into the fundamentals of solar physics and potentially into predicting powerful solar eruptions like flares or coronal mass ejections. These explosive events can disrupt communication satellites and electronic systems, potentially affecting satellite trajectory due to Earth's inflated atmosphere absorbing additional solar energy.

"Our improved understanding and ability to forecast these solar events are vital for living more harmoniously within our solar system," asserts Winebarger.

After the successful July 2021 launch of the initial MaGIXS mission, Marshall engineers and their collaborators have honed the instrumentation for MaGIXS-2, allowing for wider observation of the sun's X-rays. The development involved creating a telescope, spectrometer mirrors, and a camera—with meticulous testing carried out in Marshall's cutting-edge X-ray & Cryogenic Facility. MaGIXS-2 employed the same mirrors as the first mission but with an enlarged aperture, and the full testing took place in Marshall's Stray Light Test Facility.

Technological advancements for MaGIXS, achieved through the collaborative efforts of Marshall and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, extended into various domains: from the creation of a low-noise CCD camera to high-resolution X-ray optics and calibration methodologies.

Winebarger and Patrick Champey, deputy principal investigator at Marshall, highlight the transformative impact of the project on their team members' professional growth, as they assume leadership roles and benefit from mentorship along the way.

Apart from their scientific significance, sounding rockets offer several advantages for NASA's research missions. They are relatively smaller, more cost-effective, and quicker to design and construct when compared to large-scale satellite endeavors, explains Winebarger. These vehicles follow a parabolic trajectory into space, carrying scientific instruments and facilitating brief yet crucial experiments that typically last around five minutes.

The MaGIXS project exemplifies Marshall's commitment to pushing scientific boundaries – a testament to its collaboration with the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory – and showcases the exceptional support from NASA's Sounding Rockets Program Office, stationed at Wallops Flight Facility within the Goddard Space Flight Center. This office plays a pivotal role in providing suborbital launch vehicles, developing payloads, and assisting in field operations for NASA and other government agencies.

Read also: NASA Mars mission crew emerges after yearlong simulated voyage.