Researchers believe that the upcoming NASA event, scheduled for 24 December 2024, will be just as momentous in the realm of space exploration as the historic 1969 Moon landing.
The spacecraft is set to do this by reaching a speed never before reached by any man-made object.
It will bypass the sun at 195km per second – the equivalent of flying from London to New York in 30 seconds.
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The sun and the stars
At the same time, the probe will be just 6.2 million kilometers from the sun’s surface. While that may still seem like a huge distance, scientists working on the project have said that they are “basically almost landing on a star.”
To achieve the maneuver in this high-risk mission, the spacecraft will have to withstand temperatures of approximately 1,400˚C.
The spacecraft will achieve its high speed by using Venus for a gravitational assist, which will tighten its orbit around the sun and consequently increase its speed.
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Maneuvering swiftly while taking measurements of the solar environment will be the most challenging aspect of the mission.
The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018. In 2021, it became the first spacecraft ever to enter the Sun’s upper atmosphere (known as the corona.) Since then, it has made 18 close approaches of the sun.
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The probe cannot stay within the corona without burning up, so instead has made several rapid descents into the scorching atmosphere. Its speed and its heat shield allow it to cope with the conditions and collect data for scientists back on earth.
The main aim of the mission is to unravel some of the mysteries around the corona that have puzzled scientists. The outer atmosphere is significantly hotter than the surface of the sun – it reaches temperatures over one million degrees Celsius, while the surface is a mere 6,000˚C.
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Solar winds
The corona also generates solar winds, that somehow accelerate charged particles into a wind that moves at 400km per second. These in turn can generate solar flares. 2023 saw the first sound recordings of these winds.
While the causes of solar flares are unknown, they could have consequences for planet earth. Space weather affects communication devices and will have implications for future space missions, especially manned ones.
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