KOMPAS.com – This year, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will pass by the Sun. This was a watershed moment in space exploration.
The BBC reported that the spacecraft, which was launched on August 12 2018, is scheduled to fly past the sun at a speed of 195 km per second on December 24 2024.
NASA describes it as a “touch the Sun” mission, aiming to get the first-ever sampling of a star’s atmosphere.
According to Nour Raouafi, the project’s scientist, this would be a monumental achievement for all of humanity, on a par with the Moon landing in 1969.
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This mission aims to help scientists gain a deeper understanding of the Sun, with the probe orbiting closer to the surface of the Sun than ever before and within the orbit of Mercury.
Parker Solar Probe collects measurements and images to help scientists learn more about the origins of the solar wind and how it evolves.
In addition, this mission also makes an important contribution in predicting changes in the space environment that affect life and technology on Earth.
To achieve the mission’s goals, Parker Solar Probe will encounter extreme heat and radiation on its journey, and fly seven times closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft.
A look at the Parker Solar Probe
Parker Solar Probe was launched on August 12, 2018 using a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. The probe’s mission is to study the sun in unprecedented detail.
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NASA stated that the Parker Solar Probe successfully “touched” the sun when it dived into the sun’s outer atmosphere or corona during its eighth flyby on April 28, 2021.
The spacecraft will complete 24 orbits of the sun during its seven-year lifetime.
Parker Solar Probe Project Scientist Nicola Fox, of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), said that Parker Solar Probe will answer questions about solar physics that have puzzled scientists for more than six decades.
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2024-01-03 07:00:00
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