The NASA Parker Solar Probe is a mission that aims to study the Sun up close like never before. Launched in August 2018, this unmanned spacecraft has made it possible to gather unprecedented data about our star and its atmosphere.
The mission is named after Eugene Parker, a renowned astrophysicist who proposed the existence of solar winds back in the 1950s. These winds are streams of charged particles constantly emitted by the Sun, but their exact origins and behavior remained a mystery.
The Parker Solar Probe’s primary objective is to directly explore the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona, and analyze the solar wind. By getting closer to the Sun than any previous mission, it can study the corona and solar wind at an incredibly close range.
To withstand the extreme heat and radiation, the spacecraft is equipped with a specially designed heat shield, or thermal protection system (TPS). This TPS helps keep the instruments and systems onboard at a safe operating temperature while enduring temperatures that can exceed 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,500 degrees Fahrenheit).
During its seven-year mission, the Parker Solar Probe will make a total of 24 close approaches to the Sun. On its closest approach, it will reach a distance of about 6.2 million kilometers (3.85 million miles) from the Sun’s surface, which is approximately seven times closer than any previous spacecraft.
The data collected by the mission will help scientists better understand the Sun’s behavior, such as its magnetic fields, solar winds, and solar eruptions (such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections). This information will provide invaluable insights into the workings of our own star and potentially lead to more accurate predictions of space weather, which can affect satellites, communication systems, and even power grids on Earth.
The NASA Parker Solar Probe is revolutionizing our understanding of the Sun and its influence on our solar system. As the mission continues to provide groundbreaking data, it promises to deepen our knowledge of one of the most important celestial bodies in our solar system.
