This NASA mission is preparing to get closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft in history

investigation of NASA Parker Solar Probe It is preparing to make a historic approach to the Sun, scheduled for December 24, 2024, traveling at a record speed of 195 kilometers per second. In an unprecedented event, the probe will approach the massive star at a distance of just 6.1 million kilometers, representing the fastest-moving human-made object ever to come closest to the Sun.

He said in an interview with, “We’re almost reaching a star.” BBC Dr. Noor Raoufi, Parker Project Scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

Launched in 2018, the mission aims to further investigate solar processes and improve space weather forecasts. During closest approach to the Sun, known as perihelion, Parker Solar Probe will encounter extreme temperatures of approximately 1,400 degrees Celsius in front of the spacecraft.

The investigation strategy involves a brief period of data collection within the solar atmosphere Protected by a strong heat shield. Science hopes to make significant progress in understanding the solar corona and the mechanisms behind its superheating, as well as accelerating the flow of charged particles.

“This takes on a new dimension, especially now when we think about sending women and men to the Moon and even establishing a permanent presence on the lunar surface,” declared Dr. Raoufi , he even compared the importance of this mission with the 1969 moon landing. And its monumental importance to humanity was highlighted.

Furthermore, the implications of this research are fundamental to the security of communications on Earth and the safety of astronauts, especially in future lunar mission plans. The following year represented the climax of Parker’s mission; After December it will no longer approach the Sun, partly because its trajectory will no longer allow the use of Venus to adjust its course.

Dr. Nicky Fox, NASA’s chief scientist and former lead scientist on the Parker Project, highlighted that the December 24 flyby will allow for a longer stay in the solar corona, exceeding what has been achieved in previous missions. “We don’t know what we’ll find, but we will look for ripples in the solar wind associated with warming,” he said. “I suspect we will see many different types of waves that will point to a mix of processes that people have been debating about for years,” he said.

The Parker Solar Probe developed by NASA represents an unprecedented mission in the history of space exploration, the main purpose of which is to study the Sun at close range. Launched on August 12, 2018, the spacecraft was designed to get closer to the solar corona than any other spacecraft before, in order to obtain valuable observations on solar activity and the mechanisms driving the solar wind and solar energetic particles. Data can be collected.

Equipped with a variety of scientific instruments, Parker Solar Probe examines magnetic fields, plasma and energetic particles and photographs the solar wind. The spacecraft uses a carbon composite heat shield that protects it from the Sun’s extreme temperatures and radiation, allowing it to operate even when it is approximately 6.16 million kilometers from the solar surface.

The information collected by this probe helps scientists better understand phenomena such as solar storms, which can have a direct impact on the operation of satellites, communications systems and electrical grids on Earth. In addition, the data obtained contribute to the study of space weather and provide a clearer view of how the Sun affects the space environment of the Solar System.

The mission is named after astrophysicist Eugene Parker, who in 1958 proposed the existence of the solar wind, which has approached the Sun more frequently than initially planned, increasing its duration and expanding solar mysteries. The opportunity to study has increased. Parker Solar Probe plans to make several orbits around the Sun, getting closer with each step and sending back valuable data that will change our understanding of the Sun.