Scientists hope Parker’s data will help them better understand why the Sun’s outer atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface.
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has managed to make its closest approach to the Sun, the space agency has confirmed.
Earlier this week, the spacecraft passed within a record six million kilometers of the burning star at the center of the solar system.
NASA received a clear message from Parker on Thursday evening confirming that she had survived the trip.
Launched in 2018 to closely observe the Sun, Parker has since flown directly through its outer atmosphere, known as the corona.
Once its brush is finished, the craft should circle the Sun at least until September.
Parkers is the fastest spacecraft ever built by man and reaches speeds of 690,000 km/h on its closest approach.
It is equipped with a heat shield capable of withstanding intense temperatures of up to 1,370 degrees Celsius.
Scientists hope Parker’s data will help them better understand why the Sun’s outer atmosphere is hundreds of times hotter than its surface and what drives the solar wind, the supersonic flow of charged particles constantly moving away from the Sun .
“Parker Solar Probe was developed as part of NASA’s Living With a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect life and society,” NASA said in a statement.
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