A Spacecraft Is About to Fly Into the Sun’s Atmosphere for the First Time

Almost no one ever writes about Parker Solar Probe And

Sure, the spacecraft got some attention during its launch. After all, it is the fastest moving object ever made by man. At its maximum speed in the Sun’s gravitational pull, the probe reaches a speed of 430,000 miles per hour, or more than one-sixth of 1 percent of the speed of light. That kind of speed will get you from New York City to Tokyo in less than a minute.

And the Parker Solar Probe also holds the distinction of being the first NASA spacecraft to be named after a living person. At the time of its launch, in August 2018, physicist Eugene Parker was 91 years old.

But in six years will the probe zip through space and fly to the Sun? Not much. Let’s face it, the astrophysical properties of the Sun and its complex structure aren’t something most people think about on a day-to-day basis.

However, the miniature probe has a mass of less than a metric ton, and its scientific payload is about 110 pounds (50 kg)—its star is orbiting. Quite literally. On Christmas Eve, the Parker Solar Probe will make its closest approach to the Sun. It will come within just 3.8 million miles (6.1 million km) of the solar surface, flying into the solar atmosphere for the first time.

Yes, it’s going to get pretty hot. Scientists estimate that the probe’s heat shield will withstand temperatures in excess of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,371 C) on Christmas Eve, the polar opposite of the North Pole.

Going straight to the source

I spoke with NASA’s science chief, Nicky Fox, to understand why the investigation is being so tortured. Before moving to NASA headquarters, Fox was the project scientist for the Parker Solar Probe, and he explained that scientists really wanted to understand the source of the solar wind.

It is a stream of charged particles emitted from the sun’s outer layer, the corona. Scientists have been pondering this particular mystery for more than half a century, Fox explained.

“Quite simply, we want to find the birthplace of the solar wind,” he said.

In the 1950s, before we had satellites or spacecraft to measure the Sun’s properties, Parker predicted the existence of this solar wind. The scientific community remained skeptical of the idea—many scoffed at Parker—until the Mariner 2 mission began measuring the solar wind in 1962.

As the scientific community began to embrace Parker’s theory, they wanted to learn more about the solar wind, a fundamental component of the entire solar system. Although the solar wind is invisible to the naked eye, when you see an aurora on Earth, it is the solar wind interacting with Earth’s magnetosphere in a particularly violent way.