The NASA mission has broken its own record as it seeks to teach us more about our closest star.
This artist’s concept shows the Parker Solar Probe approaching the solar corona. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith
On Dec. 26, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe went where no mission has gone before and came within 3.8 million miles (6 million kilometers) of the Sun’s surface, flying through the solar corona — the Sun’s upper atmosphere. The pass broke its previous record of traveling within 8.1 million miles (13 million km) of the surface in April 2021, according to a NASA news release.
With its most recent trip through the region, the probe is expected to help researchers understand why the Sun’s corona is so hot compared to its surface, discover possible origins for the solar wind, and determine why particles are escaping the solar atmosphere at speeds up to half the speed of light.
Surviving the Sun
However, getting this close to the Sun makes the spacecraft hot. This mission would not be possible without the use of the carbon foam shield that encases the solar probe’s insides, keeping it operational despite the high temperature and radiation. The craft’s shield can withstand up to 2,600 degrees Fahrenheit (1,426 degrees Celsius), although during its most recent pass, it reached only a cool 1,800 F (982 C).
Previous observations from the probe have already led to promising finds, such as how regions of the outer corona are “wrinkly,” with spikes and valleys that may be related to places where the Sun releases large streams of material into space.
Related: Waves may be heating the solar wind — and two spacecraft caught them in action
Other discoveries
After launching in 2018, the Parker Solar Probe used Venus to gravitationally adjust its orbit and boost it closer to the Sun, ultimately bringing it within a close but manageable distance from our star. The craft performed seven close flybys of Venus to accomplish this, taking pictures of the dust ring that stretches around the planet’s orbit of the Sun and discovering radio emission as it flew through Venus’ upper atmosphere.
The mission should soon send all of its collected information back to waiting scientists here on Earth. Its next passes of the Sun will be on March 22 and June 19.
