According to NASA, this is the first time the probe has “touched” the Sun. Success scientists informed on Tuesday during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The data will help scientists explain why the corona temperature, which reaches several million degrees Celsius, is several orders of magnitude higher than the temperature around 5500 degrees on the star’s surface.
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The spacecraft, which flew through the Sun’s outer atmosphere, actually flew through the corona in April during the eighth of the planned 24 orbits around the Sun. It took several months for the data to reach the scientists and for several others to be verified. The probe has already completed the ninth and tenth flights.
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The spacecraft penetrated the sun’s atmosphere at least three times, moving at speeds of over 100 kilometers per second. The first of the penetrations lasted about five hours, writes The Guardian.
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NASA manager Thomas Zurbuchen spoke of a “monumental moment” and a “remarkable success.” “This milestone will not only give us a deeper insight into the formation of the Sun and its impact on the solar system, but everything we learn about our own star will also teach us about the stars in the rest of the universe.”
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The spacecraft set out for the Sun from Cape Canaveral in Florida in August 2018. The project, with a budget of around $ 1.5 billion (34 billion crowns), aims to gain new insights about our star, which will better predict solar storms that could threaten terrestrial grids. or satellite navigation. The information obtained could also refine future weather forecasts.
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