wizardofoz Posted February 28, 2013 Posted February 28, 2013 From a lets say un named other forum... The ESA mission to Mercury, due for launch 2015. Worst hell hole in the solar system, and we're due there at the peak of a solar cycle (we need X-rays for the mission). The bigger the flare the better. And to make sure it works when it gets there you pay a lot for parts. 500-pin space qualified FPGA - $22k each. I bought five. You have to recalibrate your ideas about component cost for sure. If the ASP was built that way it would be half a million (it almost doesn't matter what currency)!For a stunning "medium size" flare take a look at thishttp://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130226.html . The titchy earth is shown for comparison at the start of the video.And for an amazing statistic - every second the sun destroys 6,000,000 tons of matter. It has been doing that for 4.5 billion years. WOW
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