NASA Parker Space Probe 'Touched The Sun', First-Ever Human Object To Do So
NASA's Parker Solar Probe "touched the Sun" recently, marking the first time any spacecraft has reached so close to the Sun.
Launched in August 2019, the Parker Solar Probe has spent over 990 days travelling through the solar system, especially around Venus and the Sun.
An instrument aboard the spacecraft recently notified scientists that the spacecraft is now within the Sun's corona - which is a peculiarly hot environment - clocking in temperatures as high as a million Celsius.
Parker's dance with Sun
The announcement of the world's first spacecraft to touch the Sun was made on Tuesday during the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in New Orleans.
According to Michael Stevens, an astronomer at Harvard's Center for Astrophysics (CfA) explained that the spacecraft first crossed what is called the "Alfv¨¦n point". On April 28, the spacecraft had entered the Sun's corona.
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With this, Parker reached as close as 8 million kilometres to the Sun, the closest ever for any human made technology.
To avoid overheating, Parker is equipped with a heat shield, but the instrument that recorded Parker's hot dance with Sun is exposed to the outside materials.
Parker probe's mission is far from over. The spacecraft will continue to swing by the Sun and collect data from the corona about solar winds and plasma that would help scientists understand how the Sun functions.
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In 2023, the probe will get even more close to the Sun. Are you excited to see what Parker probe reveals about our life-giving hot star, the Sun? Let us know in the comments below.
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Citation
Ryan, J. (2021, December 14). NASA solar probe officially ¡°touched the sun¡± and survived to tell the tale. CNET.?
