NASA’s Parker probe makes record approach to the Sun

On Christmas Eve, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe will approach the Sun at a record close – just 6.9 million km, which is very, very close compared to the diameter of the star (1.39 million km). In fact, Parker will dive into the upper part of the Sun’s atmosphere, where temperatures can reach 1000 degrees Celsius or more. But this is the main goal of the Parnker mission – to learn more about the solar wind, which is the strongest in this place.

Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. Image source: NASA

Parker Solar Probe’s approach to the Sun will take place on December 24. This will be the 22nd approach to the star. The probe flies in an elongated orbit, but this will not ultimately save it from falling into the Sun. Next year will apparently be the last of his life.

The probe will make four more approaches to the Sun and in 2026 will burn up in its atmosphere. All subsequent orbital parameters will remain approximately the same as those it will reach in three days. This concerns the closest approach to the star (6.9 million km) and the achieved speed of about 192 km/s. The probe has become the fastest man-made object in the history of mankind and will remain so for a little over a year.

The heat shield of the Parker probe can withstand temperatures of about 1370 ℃. Its sensors and even wiring had to be made of refractory metals. Moreover, even the wire insulation is made of sapphire glass. So far, the device has been able to withstand close approaches to the Sun and continues to transmit scientific data about particles and their energies, as well as magnetic fields.

The solar wind, predicted by physicist Eugene Newman Parker in the 1950s and first discovered by instruments on the Mariner 2 spacecraft in 1962, shapes space weather in the solar system. The mechanism of its formation is not fully understood. The Parker Solar Probe is trying to look at the origins of the solar wind, which will help predict space weather, and to do this you have to literally touch the Sun, despite the prospect of losing the device.