Parker Solar Probe

NASA solar probe becomes first spacecraft to ‘touch’ the sun. The Parker Solar Probe has successfully flown through the sun’s corona to sample particles and our star’s magnetic fields. Sixty years after NASA set the goal, and three years after its Parker Solar Probe launched, the spacecraft has become the first to “touch the sun.” The Parker Solar Probe has successfully flown through the sun’s corona, or upper atmosphere, to sample particles and our star’s magnetic fields.

Important Points In Parker Solar Probe

• ‘Polar Solar Probe’ is a spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was launched in August 2018 to explore the mysteries of the solar environment.
• In April 2021, it passed through the Solar corona (the outermost part of the Sun’s atmosphere is called the corona).
• When closest to the sun, the 4-inch-thick carbon-composite solar shields will have to withstand temperatures close to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the inside of the spacecraft and its instruments will remain at a comfortable room temperature.
• Parker wove in and out of the corona several times over the course of a few hours during the April flyby, which helped researchers understand that the boundary, called the Alfvén critical surface, isn’t a smooth circle around the sun. Instead, it has has spikes and valleys. Understanding the presence of these features could allow scientists to match them with solar activity from the sun’s surface.
• The spacecraft’s outer shield known as the Thermal Protection System (TPS) is made up of carbon-composite material to withstand extreme temperatures and also temperature fluctuations.
• The spacecraft collected samples in the solar atmosphere.
• The newest solar cycle, which began in December 2019, has been predicted to peak in July 2025, which means an increase in solar activity.

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Is Parker Solar Probe successful?

Parker Solar Probe Signals Successful Fifth Encounter of the Sun. On June 9, 2020, NASA's Parker Solar Probe signaled the success of its fifth close pass by the Sun, called perihelion, with a radio beacon tone.

Is Parker Solar Probe faster than light?

The fastest human-made objects are spacecraft. They use rockets to break free of the Earth's gravity, which takes a speed of 25,000 mph (40,000 kmh). The spacecraft that is traveling the fastest is NASA's Parker Solar Probe. ... That's blindingly fast – yet only 0.05% of the speed of light

What did the Parker Solar Probe discover?

Parker discovered evidence of a cosmic dust-free zone of 3.5 million miles (5.6 million kilometres) radius from the Sun, due to vaporisation of cosmic dust particles by the Sun's radiation.

What is the purpose of the Parker Solar Probe?

The Parker Solar Probe launched in 2018 and set out to circle closer and closer to the sun. Scientists, including the spacecraft's namesake astrophysicist Eugene Parker, want to answer fundamental questions about the solar wind that streams out from the sun, flinging energetic particles across the solar system.

What is the speed of Parker Solar Probe per second?

The Parker Solar Probe reached a top speed of 101 miles (163 kilometers) per second during its 10th close solar flyby on Sunday, which translates to a dizzying 364,621 mph (586,000 kph), NASA officials said.

What data has the Parker Solar Probe discovered?

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Discovers Natural Radio Emission in Venus' Atmosphere. During a brief swing by Venus, NASA's Parker Solar Probe detected a natural radio signal that revealed the spacecraft had flown through the planet's upper atmosphere.