The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to observe the sun up close. It has since passed through the solar corona, the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar eclipse.
The next step is to get as close to the sun as possible. On Tuesday, Parker is expected to hurtle through the sizzling solar atmosphere and pass at a record distance of six million kilometers from the sun's surface.
At that moment, if the sun and Earth were on opposite ends of a football field, Parker “would be at the four-yard line,” said Joe Westlake, the director of NASA's heliophysics division.
Mission managers will know Parker's behavior only a few days after the flyby, because the probe will be out of communication range.
Parker plans to approach the sun more than seven times closer than previous spacecraft, reaching a speed of 690,000 km/h at the time of closest approach. It is the fastest spacecraft ever built and is equipped with a heat shield capable of withstanding searing temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 degrees Celsius).
Parker will continue to orbit the sun at this distance at least until September. Scientists hope to better understand why the corona is hundreds of times hotter than the sun's surface and what powers the solar wind, the supersonic flow of charged particles that constantly moves away from the sun.
The sun's warming rays make life possible on Earth. But violent solar storms can temporarily jam radio communications and disrupt power supplies.
The sun is currently in the peak phase of its 11-year cycle, which triggers colorful auroras in unexpected places.
“He's our closest and friendliest neighbor, but he's also a little angry sometimes,” Joe Westlake said.
Tech
Canada
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