Can solar activity be measured and forecasted by spacecrafts that are used for microgravity missions

[bearnard1609]

Can solar activity be measured and forecasted by spacecrafts that are used for microgravity missions and experiments?
I`ve heard that with the usage of such spacecraft you can get to know the solar affect on Earth.

[helios]

I think you need to specify your question a bit further. All spacecrafts in earth orbit experience microgravity.

Perhaps you mean the GOCE satellite, whose mission was to explore the gravitational field, and was also used to study upper atmospheric phenomena that strongly depend on solar activity.
GOCE - Orbiting on the edge yields insight into space weather

[bearnard1609]

Actually I meant the spacecraft like Skylark-L https://www.skyrora.com/skylark-
This spacecraft can be used for microgravity missions at a lower cost than an orbital vehicle while taking advantage of an environmentally conscious fuel combination. Can the affect on Earth of solar activity be forecasted by such type of spacecraft?

 

 

Edited February 16, 2021 by bearnard1609

[Vancanneyt Sander]

That rocket can only achieve a height of 100km. Not enough to put anything useful in orbit for monitoring space weather. 

[Christopher S.]

The proximity to Earth saturates sensors with data because it is still within the atmosphere. Ideally, you want something far away enough that it only picks up environmental data from the interplanetary medium.

I don't see how micrograv spacecraft would have any advantage whatsoever as forecasting tools. What did you have in mind, bearnard?

[bearnard1609]

19 hours ago, Christopher S. said:

The proximity to Earth saturates sensors with data because it is still within the atmosphere. Ideally, you want something far away enough that it only picks up environmental data from the interplanetary medium.

I don't see how micrograv spacecraft would have any advantage whatsoever as forecasting tools. What did you have in mind, bearnard?

I considered this spacecraft can take some samples or measure solar affect on Earth or atleast solar activity on microgravity. I know that such types of rockets are often used for some small missions where scientists has to take some samples of something and this is a cheap way to do this.  

[Christopher S.]

10 hours ago, bearnard1609 said:

I considered this spacecraft can take some samples or measure solar affect on Earth or atleast solar activity on microgravity. I know that such types of rockets are often used for some small missions where scientists has to take some samples of something and this is a cheap way to do this.  

In that case, I imagine it could potentially yield interesting information or observations - none that would be useful for forecasting, but potentially some that would be useful for "mapping out" the interactions of Space Weather with a certain aspect of the planet. I do feel that this isn't necessary at the moment, but if later on somebody has a hypothesis in which these interactions need to be better understood, then certainly they could yield something different from solar-monitoring satellites.

[bearnard1609]

Thank you so much for your explanation)
But may I ask you one more question please? Why the observation of the interactions of Space Weather with a certain aspect of the planet isn`t nessecery nowadays?
I assume that with the influence space weather has on technology we have on Earth and space that point is might be important to observe and study

[Christopher S.]

1 hour ago, bearnard1609 said:

Thank you so much for your explanation)
But may I ask you one more question please? Why the observation of the interactions of Space Weather with a certain aspect of the planet isn`t nessecery nowadays?
I assume that with the influence space weather has on technology we have on Earth and space that point is might be important to observe and study

The term "forecasting" means to predict an event that will occur in the future. In order to do that, it wouldn't make any sense to use the arrival of weather for forecasting, because by then it's too late to forecast. 

You're talking about Solar Activity, so we need instruments that can gather data from the Sun, not instruments that measure the effects of Space Weather on Earth - these are two completely different things. I believe that you are confusing that with Geomagnetic Activity, which again wouldn't be useful for monitoring the Sun at all. With telescopes and cameras, as well as other on-board sensors, satellites and ground telescopes can see certain Solar events, like Flares or CMEs, and with that information contribute to a forecast of the SW that will arrive here at Earth. A satellite that isn't performing any of those functions wouldn't have a part in this forecast, it would simply be among the affected satellites in orbit. 

Even for studying individual CMEs and Flares, the data that these satellites would measure of the impacts would not fully represent the CMEs or other particles as by the time these events reach them, they have been influenced by Earth's atmosphere. Moreover, there would need to be thousands to properly "map" the dynamics of the impact if we wanted to better understand the so-called shape these events take. 

So, in short, forecasting tools for Solar Activity are much different than Geomagnetic or otherwise Earth-based monitoring tools, because they fulfill entirely different purposes.

[Jacob_CX_Cooper]

Well, you mentioned Skyrora rocket manufacturing company.  I consider Skyrora is the future of aerospace engineering and wanted to suggest that Skyrora Skyhy could be a good spacecraft to forecast and measure solar activity, but @Vancanneyt Sander said it's not a suitable option. However, I don't think we should discount this company. I heard they work on many new concepts, so I'm sure we'll see a new spacecraft that will be able to measure solar activity soon.

[bearnard1609]

On 2/23/2021 at 12:35 PM, Jacob_CX_Cooper said:

Well, you mentioned Skyrora rocket manufacturing company.  I consider Skyrora is the future of aerospace engineering and wanted to suggest that Skyrora Skyhy could be a good spacecraft to forecast and measure solar activity, but @Vancanneyt Sander said it's not a suitable option. However, I don't think we should discount this company. I heard they work on many new concepts, so I'm sure we'll see a new spacecraft that will be able to measure solar activity soon.

Yeah, I`ve read about this rocket and the term it has as ``hybrid`` rocket. The idea  of the propulsion system is great but it`s not really developed for long space journeys. However, it`s good spacecraft for microgravity missions and it can deploy microsatellites on the orbit for further missions.