Have you ever heard about the man’s first attempt to create a small sun in our solar system? Well, the question may sound outlandish but there is one such planet in our solar system which has a potential to convert into a star. According to the speculations that are rife, NASA is already working on one such mission – the Lucifer project. The term Lucifer is Latin which implies ‘light bringing.’
Earth may soon have a second sun. Alasdair Wilkins. Well, unless our Sun eventually explodes and destroys our planet, which would probably leave Betelgeuse the runner-up. Either way, it isn't. Harvard researchers have said another sun was present as the solar system formed, and it could explain features including a cloud of debris at our solar system’s edge. The find could throw light on. Jun 16, 2016 The rock’s orbit is irregular, causing it to drift between 38 and 100 times the distance of our planet’s primary Moon, and bob up and down across Earth’s orbital plane. NASA says it’s larger than 120 feet (36.5 metres) across but no more than 300 feet (91 metres) wide, has likely orbited our world for about a century, and will stick.
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Lucifer project and its attributes
The potential planet
Because of being similar in its overall composition to the sun, the largest planet, Jupiter could effectively become a star. Both the sun and Jupiter are made up almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. They both have overall densities of approximately 1.41 g/ cm³. Alike sun, Jupiter has its own mini-system, consisting of 79 known moons that orbit it. While the sun and Jupiter are the largest, and the second largest, objects in the universe, respectively, the space scientists have always referred to Jupiter as the ‘failed star.’ This is because the planet is not massive enough to chain a nuclear fusion and effectively become a star.
The life cycle of any star is dependent on its mass. Larger the mass, shorter is its life cycle, which makes its fuel supply burn faster. Excess of energy is generated, so as to keep a star bright. The massive amount of hydrogen is needed for this process of nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion takes place in the core of the sun. Hydrogen really doesn’t burn, it fuses, into helium. Thus, the sun is a gigantic nuclear reactor. Jupiter is a thousand times less massive than the sun. Therefore, the second sun in our solar system isn’t possible unless thousands of Jupiter combine to produce such an enormous mass as that of the sun.
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How is NASA trying to carry out this impossible task?
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Although it is a conspiracy theory, it has caught the interest of people, time and again. According to the believers of this hypothetical theory, the problem of mass deficiency of the planet Jupiter could be corrected with the addition of nuclear fuel that could trigger the process of nuclear fusion on the planet. Space probe could be helpful in such a case.
In the year 1995, a spacecraft, launched by NASA, carried the Galileo probe to Jupiter. The probe’s heat shield encapsulated the scientific instruments and allowed it to enter into the planet’s hot spot, returning data from the planet.
Space probes usually contain the equipment of energy sources, called RTG, short of ‘Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator. ‘ Similarly, the Galileo space probe contained 2 RTGs. Each of them contained 17 pounds of Plutonium-238, steadily producing electricity to power the probe. Heat from this radioactive element went through a thermocouple. The thermocouple is a material that produces a direct electrical current when heat is supplied to it.
After 8 years, in the year 2003, NASA deliberately ended the mission by crashing Galileo into Jupiter. It stated that it wanted to avoid the chance of contaminating the Jupiter’s moons with bacteria from earth.
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Conspiracy theories around Lucifer Project
Many conspiracy theorists then cited that NASA’s act of crashing the Galileo probe into Jupiter, stating it as the protection of Jupiter’s moons from contamination, was just a cover story. NASA actually attempted to create an explosion within the body of Jupiter, to ignite a chain reaction, turning it into a small star. Kinesis freestyle program keys for mac pro.
Credit- ThePinsta
An engineer, Jacco Van der Worp claimed that plunging into Jupiter’s deep and increasingly dense atmosphere, the plutonium-238 Galileo carried would ultimately implode, triggering a runaway nuclear explosion. He argued that this fission reaction, in the presence of heavy hydrogen, would initiate a much larger thermonuclear fusion, igniting Jupiter as the solar system’s second sun. He had written:
“The plutonium pellets aboard are prone to unexpected pressures (not Jupiter’s atmospheric pressures though). Since the craft will be travelling so fast (107,000+mph), the pressure will increase suddenly. The upper crust of Jupiter’s atmosphere is gaseous hydrogen and helium about 600 to 700 mile thick (2%of the radius of the planet). It is followed by a more liquid substance of the two, and much further in, a more metal version (so it is guessed). At only 125 miles down the pressure is already 23 bars (Galileo would go from 1/2 bar to 23 bars in 4 seconds).
If the craft is travelling at 107,000+ miles/hr, and the pellets (not the craft) last 20 seconds in Jupiter’s hostile atmosphere before imploding, they would have travelled approximately 500-600 miles inward if one accounts for the craft slowing down after entry. This is about the thickness of the more gaseous part of the atmosphere (this is assuming a perpendicular entry). At this point, the pressure would be in the thousands of bars because the increase is exponential, not to mention the temperatures generated at this speed would be tremendous…”
Credit- Wikipedia
NASA’s determination to create another Sun
Soon after the probe slammed into Jupiter, an enormous black smudge appeared on the planet’s surface. It was 7,900 miles wide (roughly the size of planet earth). Conspiracy theorists speculated that this black spot on Jupiter was the result of the Galileo probe crashing into the planet. However, this speculation found no proof.
Even now, after 14 years of the Galileo impact, Jupiter is still not a star. Some of the conspiracy theorists say that NASA’s first attempt failed, however, NASA is pinning their hopes with Saturn, too. NASA launched the Cassini space probe in the year 1997, to explore Saturn. Its mission ended on Sept 15, 2017, with a deliberate plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere. Therefore, many believe that NASA is constantly working on its Lucifer project.
Credit- SpaceFlight-Insider
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Well, no matter what the theorists say, but the fact remains that our technology needs to be hundreds time more advanced to reach the capability of star formation. Also, creating two suns would disrupt the balance of our solar system.
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Do you think is it wise enough to believe in the Lucifer project? Let us know about your views in the comment section.