The Parker probe, launched in 2018, is currently performing its twenty-second eclipse around the Sun. An unprecedented revolution, since its perihelion will be only 6.1 million kilometers from the star, very close to the outer part of its atmosphere.
Very close to the sun, on December 24, a few hours before Christmas Eve, the American space agency will carry out one of the most delicate stages of its “Living with a Star” program. Since 2018, NASA has had a solar probe called Parker, responsible for studying the Sun's corona, and in particular, what makes it so hot. This corona, which can be represented as the outer part of the solar atmosphere, extends over millions of kilometers and what better way than to get closer to discover its secrets.
To do this, the Parker probe drew a plan on 24 orbits, whose closest distance from the Sun was gradually reduced, as its revolutions progressed. 24 orbits are planned in total, and this December 24, NASA will reach the perihelion of the twenty-second orbit. To reduce its distance from the Sun, the Parker probe methodically uses Venus' gravity, which it intercepts by meeting its orbit at the apogee of its spacing with the Sun. A gravitational assistance which will therefore deliver its full potential in the coming hours.
NASA has already announced that it will offer an update to the probe on December 27. A point that will be interesting to follow to know if the boat did not suffer damage, and was able to bring back important elements for the mission. The Parker probe's services will still be important until 2025, when it can retire. “No man-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly bring back data from uncharted territory”said Nick Pinkine, operations manager of the Parker Solar Probe mission at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, in a press release published on the NASA website.
“We look forward to hearing from the spacecraft when it returns around the Sun”he added. In Europe, a few days ago, another mission around the Sun was launched, called Proba-3. This does not aim to approach the Sun to study it, but rather to artificially create solar eclipses. To do this, ESA (the European Space Agency) relies on two satellites, which work in pairs, one of which will hide the Sun from the other, revealing only the outer corona. An opportunity to extend the duration of a real solar eclipse, visible for a few minutes, and far too rare on Earth to make it an effective object of study.
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