The space probe Parkerlaunched by NASA, “came close” to the Sun, passing on Tuesday, December 24, Christmas Eve, closer to the star than it had ever done before in order to study its atmosphere. Launched in August 2018 for a seven-year mission, Parker must deepen scientific knowledge about this star, in particular in order to unravel the secret of solar storms, which can have an impact on terrestrial communications.
The probe was due to pass next to the Sun on Tuesday at 12:53 p.m. (Paris time), 6.1 million kilometers from the surface of the star, a record. However, the mission team must wait until Friday to receive a signal from the device, scientists having lost direct contact with the probe for several days due to its proximity to the Sun.
Up to 930 degrees Celsius on the heat shield
“It’s the moment when we say to ourselves “we did it””rejoiced Nicky Fox, a NASA official, in a video on social networks. “This is an example of NASA's bold missions, accomplishing something no one has ever done before to answer long-standing questions about our universe.”Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist, said in a statement on Monday. “We look forward to receiving the first update and starting to receive the scientific data in the coming weeks”he added.
During his approach, Parker traveled at a blazing speed of around 690,000 kilometers per hour – a speed that could travel from Washington to Tokyo in less than a minute.
The probe's heat shield endured extreme temperatures of around 870 to 930 degrees Celsius, but its internal instruments remained close to room temperature – around 29 degrees Celsius – as it explored the outermost layer of the atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona.
One of Parker's objectives, in venturing into these extreme conditions, is to understand why this area is curiously 200 times hotter than the surface of the star. This approach, on the eve of Christmas, is the first of three record passages, the next two – March 22 and June 19, 2025 – expected to bring back Parker at a similar distance from the Sun.
Also read (2018): Article reserved for our subscribers Departure of Parker Solar Probe, the probe that will “touch” the Sun
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