NASA's Parker Solar Probe is getting ready for a close visit to the Sun, coming as near as 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) to its surface on December 24. This mission will take the spacecraft directly into the Sun's corona, allowing us to explore deeper into the Sun’s atmosphere than ever before.
Extreme Conditions Ahead
During this close approach, the probe's heat shield will be exposed to intense conditions, with temperatures reaching up to 2,500°F (1,371°C). The goal is to understand the origin of the solar wind—a phenomenon first theorized by physicist Eugene Parker in the 1950s and later validated by the Mariner 2 mission in 1962.
"Simply put, we are looking to discover where the solar wind is born," stated NASA’s Chief Scientist Nicky Fox, who previously served as the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe. The solar wind is a constant stream of charged particles that erupts from the Sun's corona, significantly affecting events like Earth’s auroras and other occurrences across the solar system.
A Small but Mighty Spacecraft
The spacecraft is not very large—it weighs under a metric ton and carries roughly 110 pounds (50 kg) of scientific instruments. Nevertheless, it has already set records as the fastest human-made object, racing along at speeds of 430,000 miles per hour, which is more than one-sixth of the speed of light.
Preparing the probe for this mission proved challenging. Engineers had to devise materials capable of withstanding extreme temperature shifts as the probe transitioned from the scorching corona to the frigid vacuum of space. The Faraday cup, designed to measure solar wind particles, is made from sheets of titanium-zirconium-molybdenum that can endure temperatures as high as 4,260°F (2,349°C). Even the wiring was specially designed, using sapphire crystal tube insulation and niobium conductors to prevent melting.
A Historical Launch
Launched in August 2018, the Parker Solar Probe is notable for being the first NASA spacecraft named after a living person—Eugene Parker, who was 91 at the time of the launch. This upcoming close approach on Christmas Eve is the result of years of intellect, advanced technology, and engineering prowess, and it is anticipated to provide fresh insights into solar enigmas that have puzzled scientists for many years.
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