NASA reveals protective solar winds are weakening

by Stevie Smith - Sep 24 2008, 13:00

U.S. space administration NASA has announced that new data from its far-reaching Ulysses solar probe has revealed a definite decline in the winds projected outward from the sun by its constant stream of charged, sub-atomic particles.

According to NASA officials, the so-called solar winds, which are blasted from the sun at speeds of around 1.6 million kilometres per hour, have dropped in strength by 20 percent since the mid-1990s, and now stand at their lowest levels in some 50 years.

While the fall in pressure may not seem important to mankind in general, NASA has noted that the lowering winds will likely affect the effectiveness of the heliosphere, a gigantic protective shield around the solar system that is sustained by the solar winds.

“The heliosphere is our laboratory,” commented Nancy Crooker, a research professor at Boston University, during a media conference call. “We know the sun has been this cool, this inactive before, but that was prior to the space age. So we didn’t have actual physical measurements until now of such periods.”

Reuters reports that scientists processing the new data claim the dwindling wind pressures will not adversely affect the Earth thanks to the barrier created by its magnetic field. However, more cosmic radiation is expected to reach into the inner solar system as the heliosphere gradually weakens.

Although inhabitants of Earth are protected from the increase in cosmic radiation, the matter might not be so clear cut for those astronauts who venture out deep into the solar system at some point in the future, with engineers having to focus on creating space-faring vehicles capable of withstanding the increased radiation.

The Ulysses probe was launched from the Discovery space shuttle in 1990 and has since entered the scientific history books for becoming the first probe to successfully orbit the sun’s poles.

The Ulysses project is expected to close before the end of the year after providing valuable data for more than 17 years -- almost four times its original mission lifespan.

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