Since its launch in 2018, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has moved closer to the Sun each year, shedding light on key solar processes. By the end of 2024, it will set a new record by grazing our star from a distance of just over 6 million kilometers and penetrating deep into its scorching outer layer.
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One of the most daring missions in the history of space exploration, the Parker Solar Probe was the first spacecraft to fly through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known to scientists as the corona. In late December, it will break new ground by covering 96% of the distance separating our planet from its fiery star.
In doing so, Parker would reach speeds of around 700,000 km/h (435,000 mph), fast enough to fly from New York to Tokyo in one minute, making it the fastest man-made aircraft in history. It achieves such speeds by orbiting Venus and using the planet’s gravity to tighten its orbit around the sun and gain additional speed.
“This will be a monumental achievement for all of humanity, comparable to the moon landing in 1969,” said Parker Project Scientist Dr. Noor Rauafi of Johns Hopkins University. Interview with BBC. “We’re almost landing on the stars.”
into the furnace
Parker’s mission is to move closer and closer to the star as the Sun repeatedly passes through it, moving through the outer atmosphere, which is paradoxically 300 times hotter than its actual surface. That means withstanding unimaginable conditions, including temperatures of nearly 1,400 degrees Celsius and solar winds laden with energetic particles.
Parker’s trick is to rely on his speed and thick carbon-composite heat shield to quickly jump into this hellish landscape. The shield protects a series of instruments that measure charged particles and magnetic fluctuations, and capture both images and sound.
In 2020, recordings made near the star provided the first sound clips of the solar wind, the continuous stream of high-energy particles flowing from the Sun.
solar storm prediction
The mission’s goal is to better understand solar activity and shed light on the many mysteries surrounding the corona, which has a temperature of just 6,000 degrees Celsius on the sun’s surface. Temperatures in the corona can reach over 1 million degrees Celsius. Scientists hope the data Parker collects will help them understand why the sun’s outer air is so much hotter than the surface.
The corona is also where solar winds originate, sometimes causing solar “flares” or “storms” that can disrupt Earth’s magnetic field, degrade communications, and pose health risks to astronauts. Ultimately, Parker’s discovery could pave the way for space weather forecasting services that can predict and track such events.
The spacecraft’s voyage at the end of the year will provide an excellent opportunity to better understand key solar processes. Also, this will be the last time. After December, the spacecraft’s orbit will no longer be able to circle Venus, effectively making further encounters with the Sun impossible.
This article has been translated from the French original.