The most advanced solar probe in existence, the Parker Solar Probe, has come closest to the sun. The Parker probe made history by reaching about 94% of the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on its official SNS on the 9th that the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ came close to about 9 million km from the surface of the sun on June 27th.
According to NASA, the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ flew at about 610,000 km per hour at the time and conducted the 16th solar fly-by (celestial body close-pass). The 9 million km is the closest the Parker probe has come to the Sun since it launched in August 2018.
9 million km itself is a huge distance, but considering that the distance between the sun and the earth is 150 million km, it is possible to estimate how close the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ flew to the sun.
An artist’s rendering of the Parker Solar Probe continuously approaching the Sun to observe the solar wind. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>
“At the time of the 15th fly-by, the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ solved a new mystery surrounding the solar wind,” said NASA. .
The main task of the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ is to investigate the origin and influence of the solar wind, or high-energy particles ejected from the sun. The solar wind is thought to affect the edge of the solar system, the beginning of interstellar space (interstellar space). The only artificial objects that have reached here so far are NASA’s twin planetary probes ‘Voyager’ 1 and 2.
NASA explained, “If the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ can reveal the origin of the solar wind, it will deepen our understanding of solar physics. More than anything, we can more accurately predict space weather.”
The Parker Solar Probe, which went on its 16th solar fly-by late last month, approached about 900 km from the Sun’s surface. <사진=NASA 공식 홈페이지>
“When the charged particles of the solar wind collide with the earth’s atmosphere, it creates beautiful aurora, but it causes radio interference or satellite damage,” he said. We have to be prepared,” he said.
The ‘Parker Solar Probe’ will conduct a Venus flyby on August 21st. This is the 6th of a total of 7 scheduled Venus fly-bys during the mission. The Venus fly-by is a measure to get the probe closer to the sun.
In the 17th solar fly-by on September 27, ‘Parker Solar Probe’ will approach about 7.6 million km from the sun. NASA plans to bring the ‘Parker Solar Probe’ to within about 6.2 million km of the sun by 2025.
Reporter Jeong Ian anglee@sputnik.kr
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