The US space agency NASA is preparing to achieve an unprecedented historical achievement in 2024, as it promises to be a wonderful moment in the history of space exploration. On December 24, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will pass in front of the sun at an amazing speed of 195 kilometers per second. Or 435 thousand miles per hour.
The most daring mission to get close to the sun
The BBC reported that no human-made object has moved at this speed or approached the star at this speed, only 6.1 million kilometers, or 3.8 million miles, from the surface of the sun.
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“We are about to land on a star,” said Dr. Nour Rawafi, a Parker project scientist.
A tremendous achievement for humanity
“This will be a tremendous achievement for all of humanity,” the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory scientist told BBC News. This moment is equivalent to the landing on the moon in 1969.” Parker’s speed will come from the enormous gravitational force he feels as he falls toward the sun, and the journey will be like traveling from New York to London in less than 30 seconds.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is one of the most daring missions ever. It was launched in 2018, with the aim of making repeated and close passes of the sun. The late 2024 maneuver will take Parker to within just 4% of the distance between the Sun and Earth (equivalent to 149 million kilometers/93 million miles).
Parker probe mission
The challenge for the Parker Probe in doing this will be significant: At what is called perihelion, the point in the probe’s orbit closest to the star, the temperature at the front of the spacecraft will likely reach 1,400 degrees Celsius. Parker’s strategy will be to get in quickly and get out quickly, making measurements of the solar environment using an array of instruments spread out behind a thick heat shield.
The mission will also contribute to improving space weather forecasts and understanding space weather phenomena that affect terrestrial communications and power networks.
The next mission next year will be the culmination of the Parker Solar Probe mission, as it will not be able to get closer to the sun after that date.
