In previous years, NASA has visited or sent probes to many extraordinary places in space,
from neighboring planets to even comets and asteroids.
But never has NASA considered visiting the sun...until now.
The sun is 93 million miles (or 150 million km) away from earth.That’s actually within
arms reach when comparing it to distances that some of NASA’s probes, such as the
Voyager I, have ventured.
The Voyager has actually left the solar system and is now 11.7 billion miles (18.9 b km)
from earth.
We all know why a visitation to the sun was never really considered because
first of all look what happened to Icarus
And secondly just like a piece of fresh from the oven
it looks beautiful, you wanna touch it, but
just too hot for us to handle.
The sun’s corona alone, which is the aura of plasma that surrounds the sun, is around
1 million degrees F (553,000° C).
the sun’s core reaches temperatures of 27 million degrees F or 15 million degrees celsius!
The high pressure and temperature in the core allow atoms of hydrogen to be fused into helium,
releasing gamma radiation.
So yeah, the sun is pretty hot.
But despite its temperature, NASA has finally decided to pay the sun a visit.
Why?
Because there are still many unanswered questions about the sun. for example, one of the biggest
questions to date is why is the corona (or atmosphere) of the sun hotter than the surface.
Not only will the mission answer a few questions about the sun, it will allow scientists to
get up close and personal with the sun to see how it really works.
It will even allow us to prevent future space threats like solar storms that have the ability
to shut down electrical grids across earth.
These storms cause great damage, and one study even revealed that one storm can do up to
$2 trillion in damages in the US alone.
That’s why this mission is so important.
At a press conference on May 31, NASA announced that it will launch its probe into the corona
of the sun sometime between July 31 and august 19 of 2018.
The probe, originally called the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft, has now been named the Parker
Solar Probe after Eugene N. Parker, an American solar astrophysicist who has contributed greatly
to our understanding of the sun.
This mission will be groundbreaking in so many ways.
First off, this mission will allow us to be seven times closer to the sun than any other
mission has previously gone, at a planned distance of 3.8 million miles (6.1 million
km).
It will mark the first time a human-built machine has ever “touched the sun”.
The probe will repeatedly swoop through the corona, making up to 24 close approaches.
It will be moving at 430,000 miles an hour, which is so fast that it’s like flying from
NY to Tokyo in less than a minute.
Why has NASA taken 60 years to plan this mission?
Well, the materials that were needed for such a close encounter with the sun didn’t exist
until recent times.
In order for the probe to survive the visit, a heat shield has to be made.
Parker solar probe’s heat shield was developed using NASA’s research money to withstand
not only the temperature of the sun, but also the temperature contrast from hot to cold
to hot to cold because of the 24 orbits that the probe will make.
Withstanding that kind of temperature difference is what makes the heat shield so amazing.
Not only that, new solar panels were also developed to keep the space probe cool.
Since the probe will be so close to the sun, the solar panels only have to stick out their
fingertips.
Just that little bit alone will generate enough energy for the probe to run.
Also, if any of you guys from the USA want to see the sun’s corona for yourself, you’ll
be able to on monday, August 21 where there will be a total solar eclipse.
For those of you who don’t know, a total solar eclipse is when the disk of the moon
blocks out the last sliver of light from the sun and the sun’s corona becomes visible.
This will be a VERY VERY rare sighting and i’m sure people across the world will be
flocking to the US to see it so mark your calendars.
When you see the eclipse, the solar probes gonna be right in there.
This mission of extremes will lead to a new era of exploration.
It’s exciting to see what kind of new information the mission will provide for the safety and
protection of our planet.
Of course, it’d be cool if the probe found a few sun aliens too.