Solar Sentinels

The Solar Sentinels was a series of proposed

1. Understand the acceleration and transit of
   solar energetic particles
2. Understand the initiation and evolution of
   coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and interplanetary shocks in the inner heliosphere

This mission's driving purpose was that the solar maximum of solar cycle 24 would have been the final one before the first upcoming crewed missions to the Moon and Mars. This was the last chance in 11 years to understand the solar storms and the deadly radiation of a solar maximum.

Spacecraft

There would have been six spacecraft: four identical spacecraft which would explore the inner heliosphere, one spacecraft which would take its post near Earth, and the final sentinel to trail slowly behind Earth.

Inner Heliospheric Sentinels

The majority of the sentinels are the Inner Heliospheric Sentinels (IHS), which would observe the

The Farside Sentinel (FSS) would study the photospheric magnetic field. As three spacecraft are needed to completely monitor this magnetic field, partnerships with two other spacecraft would be made: NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter.

Launch

The three Inner Heliospheric Sentinels would have been launched together. The proposed launch dates were 2014, 2015, or 2017.^{[citation needed]} The nominal mission lasts three years, with an extension to five years if possible.

Cooperation

Several other solar spacecraft would have helped with this mission, such as

External links

• Reports on Solar Sentinel at the Wayback Machine (archived May 28, 2010)
• The Importance of the Solar Sentinels at the Wayback Machine (archived July 12, 2016) (NASA 2006)