Parker Solar Probe Breaks Records!
By Lora Snow
October 30, 2018
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (PSP) flew closer to the sun than any human-made object ever has on October 29 around 1:04 p.m. EDT. It flew within 26.55 million miles (42.7 million kilometers) from the surface of the sun, according to NASA.
The PSP also became the fastest-ever spacecraft on October 29. NASA said its speed surpassed 153,454 miles (246,960 kilometers) per hour at around 10:54 p.m. EDT.
Illustration of Parker Solar Probe Approaching the Sun. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL, Steve Gribben
The probe, which was launched on August 12, 2018, is carrying the names of over 1.1 million people to the sun. The list of names includes William Shatner, the actor who played Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
To reach the sun, the probe will orbit the sun about 24 times while gradually coming in closer and closer to it. PSP will actually travel through the sun’s atmosphere, the corona, about 7 times when its orbiting extremely close to the sun.
The probe is expected to come within 3.83 million miles (6.16 million kilometers) of the sun’s surface in 2024. It’s expected to be travelling around 430,000 miles (692,000 kilometers) per hour at that time.
Temperatures in the corona are actually much hotter than they are on the sun’s surface. The surface temperature of the sun is about 10,000° F (5,500° C), and the temperature in the corona can reach over 1,000,000° F (550,000° C). Understanding why the Sun’s corona is hotter than its surface is one of the key reasons NASA is sending a probe to “touch the sun.”
They are also sending the probe to study the solar wind. “Millions of tons of highly magnetized material can erupt from the sun at speeds of several million miles an hour,” according to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe website. “Until we can explain what is going on up close to the sun, we will not be able to accurately predict space weather effects that can cause havoc on earth.”
To withstand temperatures outside the spacecraft which are expected to reach nearly 2500° F (1,377 ° C), the PSP is equipped with a heat shield made of carbon-composite material that’s 4.5 inches thick. It is expected to keep the probes instruments at room temperature.
NASA research scientist Eric Christian told Funacular Space News in March 2017 that while the primary mission is for the probe to complete twenty-four orbits in about seven years, the mission could last longer. He said the end date depends on how long the fuel lasts. Christian said when the spacecraft runs out of fuel, the heat shield will no longer always be facing the part of the sun it needs to face in order to protect the spacecraft, and the spacecraft will melt.
He added, however, that the heat shield, parts of the solar arrays, one of the solar wind instruments, and four antennas are designed to withstand extreme heat, and may continue to orbit the sun for millions of years.
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