Shensuo (spacecraft)
{{Short description|Proposed Chinese interstellar space probes}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE: Shensuo (spacecraft)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{update|date=February 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=April 2021}}
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{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = IHP-1
| image =
| image_caption =
| mission_type = Heliosphere science, planetary flyby
| operator = Chinese National Space Administration
| mission_duration = 25 years (planned)
| launch_date = Proposed: some time in the future
|interplanetary =
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Earth
|note = gravity assist
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Earth
|note = gravity assist
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Jupiter
|note =
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = 50000 Quaoar (proposed)
|note =
|distance = TBD
|arrival_date = TBD
}}
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight
| name = IHP-2
| mission_type = Heliosphere science, planetary flyby
| operator = Chinese National Space Administration
| mission_duration = 25 years (planned)
| launch_date = Proposed: May 2024{{cite news |last1=Shim |first1=Chang-seop |title=중국, 인터스텔라 탐사에 나설까 – Sciencetimes |url=https://www.sciencetimes.co.kr/news/%EC%A4%91%EA%B5%AD-%EC%9D%B8%ED%84%B0%EC%8A%A4%ED%85%94%EB%9D%BC-%ED%83%90%EC%82%AC%EC%97%90-%EB%82%98%EC%84%A4%EA%B9%8C/ |access-date=25 June 2021 |language=ko-KR}}
|interplanetary =
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Earth
|note = gravity assist
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Earth
|note = gravity assist
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Jupiter
|note =
|distance =
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Neptune
|note =
|distance = 1,000 km
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Triton
|note =
|distance = TBD
}}
{{Infobox spaceflight/IP
|type = flyby
|object = Kuiper belt object
|note = TBD
|distance = TBD
}}
}}
Shensuo ({{zh|s=神梭}}), formerly Interstellar Express,{{cite journal |last1=Chi |first1=Wang |title=蔻享--共享科学、传播科学 |website=www.koushare.com |date=25 May 2023 |doi=10.12351/ks.2305.2091 |access-date=24 October 2023 |url=https://www.koushare.com/video/videodetail/56344}} is a proposed Chinese National Space Administration program designed to explore the heliosphere and interstellar space.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Andrew |title=China to launch a pair of spacecraft towards the edge of the solar system |url=https://spacenews.com/china-to-launch-a-pair-of-spacecraft-towards-the-edge-of-the-solar-system/ |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=SpaceNews |publisher=SpaceNews |date=16 April 2021}} The program will feature two or three space probes that were initially planned to be launched in 2024 and follow differing trajectories to encounter Jupiter to assist them out of the Solar System. The first probe, IHP-1, will travel toward the nose of the heliosphere, possibly performing a flyby of 50000 Quaoar on the way, while the second probe, IHP-2, will fly near to the tail, skimming by Neptune and Triton in January 2038.{{cite journal |last1=Wang |first1=Chi |last2=Li |first2=Hui |last3=Guo |first3=Xiaocheng |last4=Xu |first4=Xinfeng |title=太阳系边际探测项目的科学问题 |journal=深空探测学报(中英文） |date=2021-01-27 |volume=7 |issue=6 |pages=517–524 |doi=10.15982/j.issn.2096-9287.2020.20200058 |url=http://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxb/cn/article/doi/10.15982/j.issn.2096-9287.2020.20200058 |access-date=1 July 2021 |language=zh |issn=2096-9287}}{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Andrew |title=China Considers Voyager-like Mission to Interstellar Space |url=https://www.planetary.org/articles/china-voyager-like-interstellar-mission |access-date=29 April 2021 |work=Planetary.org |publisher=The Planetary Society |date=November 19, 2019}}{{cite journal |last1=Stone |first1=Richard |title=‘Voyager on steroids.’ Mission would probe mysterious region beyond our Solar System |journal=Science |date=28 July 2022 |volume=377 |issue=6605 |doi=10.1126/science.ade1070 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/voyager-steroids-mission-probe-mysterious-region-beyond-solar-system |access-date=21 October 2024|url-access=subscription }} There may be another probe—tentatively IHP-3—which would launch in 2030 to explore to the northern half of the heliosphere.{{cite journal |last1=Wu |first1=Weiren |last2=Yu |first2=Dengyun |last3=Huang |first3=Jiangchuan |last4=Zong |first4=Qiugang |last5=Wang |first5=Chi |last6=Yu |first6=Guobin |last7=He |first7=Rongwei |last8=Wang |first8=Qian |last9=Kang |first9=Yan |last10=Meng |first10=Linzhi |last11=Wu |first11=Ke |last12=He |first12=Jiansen |last13=Li |first13=Hui |title=Exploring the solar system boundary |journal=Scientia Sinica Informationis |date=2019-01-09 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=1 |doi=10.1360/N112018-00273 |s2cid=86476811 |language=en |issn=2095-9486|doi-access=free }}{{cite web |last1=Song |first1=Jianlan |title="Interstellar Express": A Possible Successor of Voyagers |url=http://www.bcas.cas.cn/infocus/201911/t20191111_223051.html |website=InFocus |publisher=Chinese Academy of Sciences |access-date=29 April 2021}} IHP-1 and IHP-2 would be the sixth and seventh spacecraft to leave the Solar System, as well as first non-NASA probes to achieve this status.
History
The heliosphere and the interstellar medium have so far been explored by only three NASA probes: Voyager 1, Voyager 2, and New Horizons. Both Voyagers used gravity assists to take them out of the plane of the ecliptic: Voyager 1 to the north with Saturn in 1980, and Voyager 2 to the south with Neptune in 1989. New Horizons was designed to stay within the plane to allow for exploration of other Kuiper belt objects. However, none of these probes are exploring the tail of the heliosphere; Pioneer 10, which was headed toward the tail after its Jupiter flyby in 1973, lost contact with Earth in 2003. Later spacecraft which would remain within the Solar System, such as Cassini–Huygens, have gathered valuable data on the heliosphere and how it interacts with the interstellar medium, suggesting that the heliosphere is not shaped like a comet but is rather spherical.
Overview
Each probe is to weigh about 200 kilograms, to use radioisotope thermoelectric generators for power, and to carry 50 kilograms or more of scientific instruments such as optical cameras, magnetometers, dust detectors, and neutral atom and particle payloads. They will also study anomalous cosmic rays, interplanetary dust, and the interstellar medium. Depending on whether monopropellant or ion propulsion is used, the probes would be launched using either Long March 3B or Long March 5 rockets. While IHP-1 and IHP-2 will use RTGs for power, IHP-3, if approved, would use a nuclear reactor.
The dwarf planet Quaoar and its moon Weywot are currently being considered as potential flyby targets for IHP-1. Centaur exploration has also been considered for both probes.
While a 2024 launch date was targeted, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused some delays, which rendered it to launch at a later date. Future dates of May 2025 and 2026 launches have already been considered for IHP-2, and it is possible that IHP-1 could be moved to those as well.{{cite web |last1=O'Callaghan |first1=Jonathan |title=U.S. and Chinese Scientists Propose Bold New Missions beyond the Solar System |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/u-s-and-chinese-scientists-propose-bold-new-missions-beyond-the-solar-system/ |website=Scientific American |access-date=19 April 2022 |language=en}}
Scientific payload
| class="wikitable" |
| Instrument
! Dimension, range, resolution |
|---|
| Vector Atomic Magnetometer
|Electromagnetic radiation: |
| Plasma Analyzer
| Plasma wave observations: |
| Pick-up Ion Analyzer
| Ion counter: 0.002–40 keV/e, energy resolution 5%; mass resolution of H+, He+, He2+, N+, O+, Ne+ |
| High Energy Particle Analyzer
| Ionization analysis: |
| Energetic Particle Analyzer
| Ionization analysis: |
| Energetic Neutral Atom Analyzer
| Images emission of energetic neutral atoms; ~1–100 keV H |
| Dust Particle Analyzer
| Dust analysis: 400 cm2 area, 10−17–10−9 kg range, 1 – {{val|e=3|u=km/s}} impact, 10−16–10−13 charge |
| Camera
| Narrow-angle: 1200mm focal length, 150mm aperture; 0.78°×1.05° FOV, 40–1000 nm wavelength, 6–8 spectra channels. |
| UV photometer
| Ultraviolet mapping: 121.6 nm, 58.4 nm wavelength, 4°x4° FOV. |
| Infrared spectrometer
| Infrared mapping:1–16 μm spectrum range, 9 cm−1 spectrum resolution, 0.5° FOV |
Trajectory
The goal of the spacecraft is to have travelled a total of 100 astronomical units by 2049, which is the centennial celebration of the People's Republic of China's founding.
IHP-1 would've launched in May 2024. In October 2025 it will return to Earth for a gravity assist, then loop back in December 2027 for yet another gravity assist. In March 2029 the probe will fly by Jupiter to send it on a trajectory toward the nose of the heliosphere and potentially make observations of centaurs or Kuiper belt objects, including the flyby of Quaoar, along the way. By 2049 the probe will be 85 AU away from the Sun.
IHP-2 will launch before May 2026, but it will likewise receive two gravity assists from Earth in May 2027 and March 2032 respectively. The flyby of Jupiter in May 2033 will send it on a path to fly by Neptune in January 2038 at only 1,000 kilometers above its cloud tops. The probe may also release an atmospheric impactor prior to the flyby. After the flybys, the probe will visit a Kuiper belt object, and by 2049 the probe will have traveled 83 AU away from the Sun, heading toward the yet-unexplored tail of the heliosphere.
If launched with Tianwen-4, there may be very well a chance for comparative planetology in some form. After IHP-2
Flyby targets
= IHP-1 =
File:The Earth seen from Apollo 17.jpg|alt=The Blue Marble, from Apollo 17|Earth (2x gravity assist)
File:Jupiter and its shrunken Great Red Spot.jpg|alt=Jupiter and its shrunken Great Red Spot|Jupiter (flyby)
File:Quaoar-weywot_hst.jpg|alt=Quaoar and its moon Weywot (Hubble)|Quaoar and Weywot (flyby)
= IHP-2 =
File:The Earth seen from Apollo 17.jpg|alt=The Blue Marble, from Apollo 17|Earth (2x gravity assist)
File:Jupiter and its shrunken Great Red Spot.jpg|alt=Jupiter and its shrunken Great Red Spot|Jupiter (flyby)
File:Neptune Voyager2 color calibrated.png|alt=Neptune from Voyager 2|Neptune (flyby)
File:Triton_moon_mosaic_Voyager_2_(large).jpg|alt=Triton mosaic from Voyager 2|Triton (flyby)
See also
{{Portal|Spaceflight|Solar System}}
- Tianwen-4, a Chinese Jupiter orbiter to launch in 2029 that will include a component to fly by Uranus.
- Interstellar Probe, a concept by NASA to explore the heliosphere to be launched sometime in the 2030s.
- Voyager 1 and 2, probes by NASA designed to explore the outer planets that have since passed the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar space.
- Trident, a concept by NASA to explore Neptune and Triton, which would have been launched in 2025 on a trajectory to reach Triton in mid-2038.
- Neptune Odyssey, a concept by NASA designed to orbit Neptune and Triton that may carry an atmospheric probe as part of its cargo.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Chinese spacecraft}}
{{CNSA space program}}
{{Jupiter spacecraft}}
{{Neptune}}
{{Triton (moon)}}
{{Asteroid spacecraft}}